“A man who wants to do the right thing for their child. Mia was a tyrant most days. She only seemed happy when she was around Rebekah. She never followed the traditional path in life. She did what she wanted without regard to anyone. Don’t get me wrong, Mia could be sweet and kind, but that wasn’t her nature. She was a ballbuster, and though many of us thought you’d be the one to corral her, you weren’t. We all saw it when you brought her home. And I think somewhere deep down, you knew it yourself. Don’t blame yourself for Mia’s death. You did exactly what she wanted you to do. You protected Rebekah.”
“Healer’s right, Ghost,” Reaper said, walking into the room. “My sister only loved two things in this world, pissing people off and her daughter. There was no room for anything else. That’s why I was shocked when you married her. I didn’t say anything because of Rebekah. I knew you’d do the right thing, and you did. You saved my niece. As for Mia, she always went her own way. She never followed the norm. I think she married you because it was better for Becca.”
“I should have told you.”
“Maybe, but in the end, you did the right thing. Look, man, whatever is going on in that thick skull of yours, get rid of it. My sister lived her life on her terms. She did nothing without knowing the outcome.”
“She couldn’t have known she was going to die.”
“Yeah, I think she did. When I saw Remi standing in the common room that day, all I could think about was getting to her. Racing to protect her, I saw Mia in the kitchen. She had a gun in her hand. She was coming out to do what she does best, shoot. She knew the risks in doing so. She knew she could have been shot. But she did it anyway, and she paid the price. I like to believe she was coming out to save Rebekah but seeing you with her daughter made what happened next easier for her.”
“You’re not mad?”
“Fuck yeah, I’m mad. I’m mad at her for being so fucking headstrong that she could think she could go into a shoot-out and walk away from it. I’m mad she put her life in danger. I’m mad she didn’t protect herself better. I’m mad she didn’t trust us enough to protect Rebekah, but mainly I’m pissed because she didn’t check her six. If she had turned around, she would have seen Reynolds, and she could have shot him. Instead, my woman has to deal with killing that fucker.”
“Remi’s okay, right?”
“She has nightmares. Probably will for a while too,” Reaper said, raking his fingers through his hair. “Look, enough crying about shit we can’t effect. Phantom found what you were looking for. I’ve got the boys all convened upstairs. Just waiting on you.”
Nodding, I got to my feet and followed Reaper upstairs.
Five
Ghost
To say that I was nervous going into church was an understatement. There were things about my past that I wanted to keep hidden. They were my demons, and nobody needed to know about them, especially the brothers I looked up to and admired. I didn’t want or need their pity, yet I knew I would have to tell them something. Seeing my brother Grimm sitting at the table with his head hanging low, I knew whatever Phantom found wasn’t going to be good.
Taking my seat near the table's head, I sat waiting for Reaper to do the same. He said nothing more to me as we walked up from the basement. He had said what he needed to say, and that was it. Now, it was time for me to talk.
“Go ahead, Phantom,” Reaper ordered, leaning back in his chair.
“The Disciples of the Word are, in fact, back in business. The cult was founded in the late 1970s by a man named Joshua Cussler. There isn’t much on him before he started the cult. No tax records, not even a birth certificate. Anyway, this Cussler fucker started a religious community that explored the inner workings of the bible. I’m talking hard-core religious fanaticism here. If the bible said an eye for an eye, that’s what he did. Over the years, the community went dark. Like fucking nasty dark. Right before they were raided by the FBI in the mid-’80s, the club was deep into ritual bloodletting, drinking, and harvesting, all for their one true God. And let me be clear, I am not talking about Jesus Christ. These fuckers worshiped Satan. They just disguised their community under Christian beliefs for the damn tax break. For all intents and purposes, this was and still is a fucking cult.”
“What are we talking about here? Like human sacrifice shit?” Bullseye asked, leaning forward.
“Yeah, and more,” Phantom said, then added. “According to the FBI file I found, when the compound was raided back in the 80’s they found numerous burial sites. They are still trying to identify those bodies today.”
“Tell them what they really do, Phantom,” I said, looking over at her. I watched her face pale. I knew she wanted to stop talking. I would have, but everyone needed to hear the truth. Reaper said it himself when the shit went down with Remi. This club would no longer keep secrets from one another. All of us would work together, collectively, to bring fuckers like this to justice, the Golden Skull way.
“The cult uses young women to further their narrative. They coerce them into having sex on the premise that’s what God made them for, a vessel for men to use. If a woman refuses, she is given seven reprieves to accumulate to her position in life, or she is sacrificed to their God as an offering of forgiveness and a warning to other women. Mainly, these women are brainwashed into doing these fuckers biddings. If a woman flat out refuses, they kill her and sell the remainder of her family on the open market to the highest bidder, thereby culling the bad seeds as they believe.”
“Wait a minute,” Chaos said. “Are you telling me…”
“It’s like Phantom said, Chaos,” Grimm interrupted. “We were there. We saw it firsthand, Ghost and I. You all may not remember, but there was a time our dad was religious. He believed in God and wanted each of his sons to know God too. Well, Dad was also part of the Skulls back in the day. So, he had mom find a church. She found the Disciples of the Word. At first, they were like any church. Preaching the word of God, Sunday school, bible school during the summers, you name it. It was a community of good people, just living their life by God’s laws.”
I nodded and added, “We all went. Me, Grimm, Shadow, and Mom, though Shadow was still a baby. Grimm may remember some things, but I was the oldest. I saw it all. You see, by the community standards, I was above our mom because I was a man. Therefore, I was allowed to bear witness to those who went against the community. When I told our dad, he brought us to the clubhouse, and that was it. We never went back, but the damage was already done. The shit I saw still haunts me today. You all know I fight my beliefs all the time. I want to believe in something greater, something better than what this miserable earth has to offer. I need to, or I will go insane. Because of fuckers like the Disciples of the Word, I am constantly at odds with myself. There are times I don’t know what is right or wrong. That was where this club came in for me. I just did what I was told. Therefore I didn’t have to think to make that judgment call. Our dad was with the FBI that day when they raided the community. He killed several men that day, but the people he saved, were never the same. None of us were.”
“Why seven reprieves,” Savage asked.
“For the seven deadly sins. The cult believes that to purge each sin from the body, it needs seven reprieves to purify the soul for acceptance.”
“How long is each reprieve?”
Shrugging my shoulders, I replied, “Depends on the person. It’s different for each individual.”
“Who is running this cult now, Phantom?” Reaper asked, bring the conversation back to the now. Looking at him, I grinned in thanks. It was bad enough thinking about this shit, but to air, my whole life in front of my brothers was a bit much.
Player was the first to speak, “A man named Samuel Peterson.”