ANTECEDENT: CHAPTER 36
MIDNIGHT, following his father's orders, met an ambassador in Peru. As expected, a shoot out happened, resulting in Midnight getting shot on the shoulder.
He was, as Midnight expected, used as bait. When he was in the hospital, getting stitches, he received a call from Orlando, saying they had already gotten what they needed, and he can go back to his training.
When the call ended, he smiled wryly. He hated being his big brother's double because he felt like his life was slowly being robbed, but when he's hurt just like now, he was thankful that it was him and not his big brother.
What a contradictory mind he had.
"Done?" Chaos asked after Midnight stepped out of the infirmary in the Orgánosi's Peru HQ.
Midnight nodded.
Chaos handed a paper to Midnight.
With a frown, Midnight accepted it and when he felt the coldness coming from the inside of the paper bag, he immediately guessed what it was.
Midnight forgot all his troubles when he opened the paper bag and saw a tub of ice cream.
"Thanks!"
Seeing Midnight happy with just a tub of ice cream and started eating right away, Chaos shook his head as they walk to the elevator.
"I called Daemon to inform him that we're finished here in Peru." Chaos informed Midnight. "He's sending us to Brazil to deal with a criminal gang involved in the International drug trade and kidnapping."
Midnight just nodded and continued enjoying his ice cream, uninterested.
"This is a big undertaking. I'm not sure if we'll complete it before our training is complete."
Midnight stopped eating and glanced at Chaos. "Speaking of which, who will you choose as your third mentor?"
Chaos's eyebrows rose. "You didn't know? Daemon Cox is my first mentor."
"Oh. So, I was one year ahead of you?" Then Midnight frowned when he recalled something. "Then why are you training for camaraderie? Isn't the first training leadership?"
"Oh, that? It was supposed to be a leadership training, but Daemon received a report that he was chosen as a mentor by another continental boss in training, so he changed it to camaraderie."
"Then who are you choosing for your second mentor?"
"Still thinking about it. You?"
Midnight already had a mentor in mind. "Continental boss of Australia. I heard he's very strict."
"Then I'll choose him, too."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Then I'll do the last one alone."
Midnight nodded. "If the continental boss of Australia gave us the same training, then there's only leadership training left for you. I suggest you choose Parisi as your last mentor. He was my first mentor, and he gave me amazing teammates for my leadership training."
Chaos became curious. Midnight, who hated working with people, actually speaks highly of a team he worked with? That's surprising.
"How amazing?" Chaos asked.
Without blinking or hesitating, Midnight answered with the utmost seriousness. "Unforgettable performance."
Chaos, who was convinced by Midnight's seriousness, decided to choose Parisi as his third mentor.
The two stepped out of the elevator and went to their respective rooms. Since Midnight had a team now; to foster friendship and closeness, Midnight chose a room with four bedrooms.
And he felt like it was a mistake when he entered the room.
Love was busy in front of his laptop while a song was blasting in his stereo. While Atticus and Claud were arguing about some shallow things—Atticus not putting back the throw pillow on the sofa and just leaving it on the floor.
It was so noisy that he felt the strong urge to call the receptionist to change rooms.
Convincing himself this was okay, and he'll survive this, Midnight silently walked to his room, and he couldn't help overhearing Atticus and Claud's argument.
"Bloody hell! I didn't mean to throw that ugly pillow."
"Don't bloody-bloody me, Lockridge!" Gone the fear in Claud's voice and bearing from the first meeting. "You're making a mess in this room, and I have to clean it twice now! Twice! You can't even put back that damn throw pillow on the sofa! And let's not forget the coffee mug you just left in the sink! And you didn't even close the trash can!"
Atticus frowned. "What's a trash can?"
Gritting his teeth, Claud pointed at the trash can.
A realization dawned on Atticus. "Oh. You mean the rubbish bin?"
Claud pulled his own hair and groaned in so much frustration. "Just clean up your fucking mess!"
Midnight couldn't help stopping and clapping his hand at Claud. "Speaking like a true cleaner. Keep it up, Claud."
Claud stilled and then groaned again. He still couldn't understand why he's cleaning up after these three grown men! If only his life was not on the line.
Oh well, this was better than being forced to do a horrible act.
The next morning, Midnight's team and Chaos left for Brazil. It was a five-hour flight, so Midnight used that to talk to Claud.
Claud became agitated as he sat on the chair beside Midnight. He felt like this was the day he will get hanged. These last few days had been good to him. At least, he tasted what freedom was like—well, sort of.
Bracing himself for the boss' words, Claud clenched his fist in tension.
"Claud, how are you with dead bodies?"
Claud was so stupefied by that question that his fist became unconsciously unclenched, and he just stared at Midnight, dumbfounded.
However, seeing that Midnight was waiting for his answer, he immediately pulled himself together. "Um, can you clarify that?"
Midnight patiently clarified it for Claud. "Can you handle dead bodies? Would disposing of them give you nightmares?"
Claud's lips parted. He really didn't know where these questions were coming from. "Will you kill me if I say no to your first question and yes to the second?"
"No."
"Really?"
"Yes."
Claud stilled before taking a deep breath and asking Midnight, "What would happen to me if I said no? Will you send me back to Venezuela?"
Midnight already had a backup plan in case Claud refused. "I'll send you to Italy, where you can start a new life legally. I'll also gave you some money to support you while starting out and I'll contact someone that can give you a job there. Although you would need to sign an NDA before leaving."
Claud blinked. What Midnight was describing to him was the normal life he had longed for since he was sold. It was his dream life.
But why couldn't he nod his head? Why was he considering Midnight's first question?
He could have the life that he wanted, but here he was, asking himself if he could dispose of dead bodies without having nightmares. It was insane to even consider it!
"Sleep on it and then decide." Midnight got up and patted Claud's shoulder. "You'll have a normal life in Italy. But if you work for me, you'll never have that normal life. You've seen what we do, and that life is not for everyone, so think about it first before deciding."
Claud absentmindedly nodded and looked outside the plane as Midnight leave.
Until they landed in Brazil and settled in the Racini's Hotel, Claud was still preoccupied with Midnight's offer. And he could only think of one thing before deciding—ask someone what kind of job was disposing of a body.
He decided to ask Love since he's the only person who's always in the room.
Claud approached Love, who was busy in front of his laptop in the living room. "Um... sorry to bother you, but can I ask you something?"
"Sure." Love answered without looking at Claud. "Go ahead. I'm listening."
"Well," Claud hesitated for a moment before steeling himself and tentatively asking. "Midnight asked me if I can handle dead bodies. He said it's work, but I don't know what kind of work it is. Do you know?"
Love finally looked up at Claud. "I do, but you need to sign an NDA before I tell you."
"I'll sign." Claud hastily answered.
Love stared at Claud, as if studying him, before leaving the sofa and going to his room. Claud was left in the living room, not knowing what to do until Love returned and handed him a document to sign.
"Read it first." Said Love. "If you can't understand some clauses, you can ask me."
Claud nodded and read the document. He couldn't understand some intricate and deep words, but he could still understand the main point of this NDA—he will be killed if he spread what he had seen since he was taken to that underground area.
Claud used the pen on the center table and signed the document. "Done. Can you tell me now?"
Love picked up the document and looked at Claud. "What the boss is offering you is to be the head of his cleaning crew." Then Love proceeded to explain what a cleaning crew was. "Basically, your job is to clean up the mess he'll leave behind. Including but not limited to disposing of dead bodies, cleaning a whole bloody scene, wiping off evidence, and making sure that nothing could be used against him in any way. It's a very important job."
Claud frowned. "If it's very important, why offer it to me?"
Love shrugged. "The boss is weird. He probably has his own reason."
Claud recalled how Midnight asked him to start cleaning suddenly. Was this why? "But I don't have any experience in dealing with something like that."
"You can learn." Love said as he opened his laptop again. "There's a special training for the cleaning crew members. It's a very important job, so the training is very strict. Once you pass that, then you can be the head of the boss' cleaning crew."
"How long is the training?"
"A year or two."
"That long?"
Love nodded. "As I said, it's an important job."
Claud leaned against the back of the sofa. The moment he hesitated to accept the normal life Midnight offered him; he knew there was a big chance that he'll accept Midnight's first offer.
He didn't know why. Maybe because he felt like he owed Midnight for taking him out of Venezuela and he appreciated that Midnight was not forcing him to accept the job and even giving him a way out.
If he could help the boss by cleaning up his messes, why not? In his opinion, a normal life wouldn't suit him, anyway. He was too fucked up to become normal.
Claud got up. "Where's the boss?"
"In his room."
Claud did not hesitate. He went straight to Midnight's hotel room and told him what he thought.
"I'll take the job." Claud said while looking unwavering at Midnight. "I'll do it."
Midnight's expression lightened up, and he smiled. "Alright. Prepare to go to Bulgaria to train."
Claud firmly nodded; even though going to Bulgaria alone scared him. He already said he'd do it, and he will.
"Go to Love and tell him you'll take the job. He'll orient you, and you also have some documents to sign."
Claud frowned. "I already signed an NDA."
"Not NDA. A covenant."
Claud blinked. "Covenant?"
"Love will explain it to you."
"Okay." Claud returned to their hotel room and told Love what the boss had said. "He said you'll orient me."
Love's expression became flat. "Since when did I become the orientation guy?" He shook his head. "Where the fuck is Atticus? He should be the one doing this."
"He said he'll go fight with some Ultors in the training room."
Love grimaced. "Another battle-junkie." He sighed and left the living room to go to his room again. When he came back, he was holding another set of documents.
He gave it to Claud.
"This is what we call a covenant in writing." Love explained. "You'll sign this for now, since you're still not officially part of the organization. Once you passed the training, that's when we will do the covenant in ink. Atticus just got his after passing the Ultor's court training."
Claud accepted the document and read it. Written there was his job description and all his responsibilities upon signing this covenant. Following the comprehensive list of his responsibilities, the list of perks was presented.
Free food and lodging in every Racini's Hotel all over the world. Free to use the organization's private planes to travel around the world for missions. A bulletproof custom-made car. Untraceable identity for international travels and more. And at the very bottom was his salary per month once he's officially part of the organization. A whooping amount of salary per month that he couldn't even dream of making in his lifetime.
In shocked, his eyes snapped at Love, who was busy on his laptop again. "How much do you make?"
Love shrugged. "Didn't check."
Claud's expression became flat. Is this how rich people think? I can't relate. "How much does the boss make?" It's probably a lot since he's the boss. But Love's answer stupefied him.
"Nothing."
"What?"
"He's still in training, so he's not making anything. And once he entered the organization, all his salary will automatically be sent to a special foundation of his choosing."
Claud's lips parted. "So benevolent?"
"All the bosses are like that." Love didn't explain any further. "Once you passed your training, you'll be given a book where you can learn everything about the organization, so, good luck."
Claud nodded and then read the content of the documents again before signing it and handing it back to Love.
"Is this part of your job as well?" Claud asked, referring to Love preparing and keeping the documents.
But to his surprise, instead of answering him, Love fell down.
"Holy fuck!" Claud almost threw himself to catch Love's head that would hit the glass center table, resulting in him being crushed underneath Love and him hitting the table instead. "Fuck...that hurts." He groaned. "Fuck."
Claud literally crawled out in pain to the sofa where he was sitting to grab his phone the boss gave him and called Atticus.
Huffing from fighting in the training room, Atticus answered the call. No one knows this number other than his teammates, so he always answers when it rings. "Need something?"
"Yeah!" Claud snapped in annoyance while gritting his teeth in pain. "You said to call you when Love faints, right? Well, he just did."
"What?" He grabbed the shirt he'd thrown earlier, put it on, and hurriedly left the training room. "Wait for me. Don't leave him alone."
Claud groaned. "Just hurry!"
The call ended, and Claud let himself lay on the floor, waiting for the pain to subside. Thankfully, Lockridge arrived in a short while.
"Did he hit his head?" Was Atticus' first question as he picked up Love and carefully put him on the long sofa.
Claud glare at Atticus sharply. "Do you think I will get hurt like this if he did?"
Atticus glanced at Claud and realized what had happened. "Thank you."
Claud snorted before pushing himself up and dragging himself to sit on the single sofa. "How often does this happen? It's dangerous. He would've hit his head if I wasn't here."
Atticus looked at Love, who was sleeping peacefully. "Not often, but he can't feel it when he's about to fall asleep. It just happens."
Claud looked at Love. "I'm not being mean, but I'm surprise he's still alive until now. That's a very dangerous condition."
Atticus agreed with Claud. It was a miracle that Love was still alive. That's the more reason he had to protect this person, so he could live longer.
"I'm leaving for Bulgaria tomorrow. You better look after him, since I won't be here to accompany him all the time."
Atticus turned to Claud, his eyes inquiring. "You accepted the job?"
Claud shrugged. "What can I say? I don't think I can ever live a normal life."
Atticus nodded. "Good luck."
Claud just nodded and closed his eyes to rest.
The next morning, Claud was on the plane to Bulgaria, alone. Even though he was going there for work, he had never felt so free since he was twelve. That's when he fully concluded that he chose the right path for himself.
Meanwhile, back in the Brazil, Midnight and his team, together with Chaos, started their work as well. Their mission in Brazil was more dangerous than in Venezuela. Although every raid was successful, the cost was high, with almost everyone in the team spending one to two weeks recovering in the infirmary afterwards.
Indeed, a life and death mission. It was only by saving each other countless times, looking after each other's back, pulling one another on the verge of death that they managed to complete the mission Daemon had given them seven months later.
Without a break, Daemon sent them to Colombia on another mission; they spent three months there raiding drug laboratories and suppressing organized crime and gangs.
Before Midnight and Chaos knew it, their year of training under Daemon Cox was over, and Daemon was more than happy to send the troublemakers to Draco Russ, the continental boss of Australia.
CECELIB | C.C.