14. Nitro

FOURTEEN

NITRO

Listening to the client sat in front of me, telling me what he wants. Sometimes I love clients who come up with their own designs, some even surprise me with the design; but then you have clients like the one sitting in front of me.

I put my pencil and pad down on the table, and lean forward so he knows I'm talking to him.

"This is your first tattoo, are you sure this is how you want to start?" I ask him. Before I finalise the design, I need to make sure he's one hundred percent sure about it, as I don't think he is. "This tattoo will take more than one session, it's covering your whole back, and it's a colourful dragon." I stop when he picks up my pad, and looks at the drawing I've done for him.

I always get a feeling about my clients when they walk in, and I think since we opened the shop, I've been wrong three times.

You know which clients can handle it, and which can't and the man sitting in front of me; he can't get a full back tattoo.

"Can I have time to think about it?" he asks me, I give him a nod and smile.

The man needs to make sure he's getting a tattoo for the reason, and impressing a girl isn't the right reason, I don't care what anyone says.

He stands up, putting the pad back on the table, and stares at me for a second. "Can I ask a question?"

"If you answer mine first," I ask, leaning back in my seat when he gives me a nod. "Is the girl worth it?"

"How did you know?" A nervous chuckles escapes him.

I have to laugh with him. "When you've been doing this job for as long as I have, you get a feeling."

"Been together two months, she said-"

"She's not worth it, the second you say she said, it's not worth it," I cut him off.

Hate when clients come in, not because they want a tattoo but because their partner wants it. I had one client who after being with his girl for two weeks wanted her initials on his ring finger. Who the fuck does shit like that? Then I had a woman cry the whole time I designed her tattoo. She told me her boyfriend said get a tattoo or he would break up with her, all because he saw a woman on social media full of ink and found it sexy. Fucking crazy the number of stupid things people do for their partner.

And ninety five percent of the time, they are back within a month asking for a cover up.

I stand up, and pat his back as we exit the room. "No matter how good the sex is, it's not worth it. What's your question?" I stop next to Nyx, who is drawing in his pad.

"I was going to ask, would you get a tattoo for a girl, but you've answered it." He smiles at the both of us, then looks at his phone shaking his head. "She's going to break up with me."

"Then she's not worth it man, you'll find someone who wants you for you," I tell him, and he starts laughing.

"I'll think about it." He walks out the door, and I turn to Nyx.

"Are we leaving?" I ask him. This was my last client, the only time I could fit him in today was at ten in the evening, but the crazy fucker was willing to paying the extra for a late appointment, even then he's not sure what he wants.

"We were waiting for you, Ares got back an hour ago." Nyx walks to the front of the shop to lock up for the day,, before we head back to the house.

We worked hard to get this place, the four of us had a plan, we knew we wanted to own a bike shop. I still remember the first time I heard a bike rev up, even today my body still gets excited at the sound. Then Nyx got his first tattoo, and he was addicted, so we wanted the bike and tattoo shop.

Then we saved and found the perfect warehouse to make our business at the front, and our house in the back. The business has been growing every day, getting clients from all over England. Even European and American clients. Words gone around we have the best business in England, you want a job done right, Haunted Tats and Haunted Bike shop is the place to go.

Between my clients, I looked through the video I sent myself from Wesley's laptop. Hoping to get something in the reflection in the mirror if there was nothing, I broke it down frame by frame but there wasn't even a shadow.

I did get something from the window in the corner. I got a shop name, and after spending the full day researching the shop, I found two. One in Manchester, and one in London. Tonight we're going to Enfield, to see what we find there. Manchester will be a whole day, and we don't have a whole day right now.

Walking into the house, I head over to the table where Ares and Tic are digging into the Chinese takeaway Ares bought on the way home. Grabbing one of the boxes, I lean back and start eating, I have a feeling tonight's going to be a long night.

I lean forward to dig the burner phone out of my pocket as it rings, I walk over to my jacket and grab my mask to put it on.

The voice changer is sewn into our mask, then when we take the mask off, it's in the bandana, Nyx puts one there too, in case we ever need it, and lucky he thought ahead, because with Emily it's what we've needed, a lot.

Once ready, I answer the call and put it on speaker for the guys to hear.

"Hello."

"This is Hunter, we've been looking into girls coming from India, there's nothing. No girls, or boys." I don't say anything, but look at the guys to see what they're think.

"Thank-" Hunter cuts me off quickly. "Before you go, we did find something coming from India." Hunter stops, he thinks I'm going to say something, but I'm not. He should know us better by now. "Guns, they come from India every three to four months, but we don't know who they go to or anything. This isn't our world, but if-"

"That will be all." I cut the call, taking my mask off, and taking a mouthful of food.

"Guns?" Nyx questions, being the first to talk.

I look over at Tic who seems to be having a fucked up a week, he's ticking more, not talking as much either. Well, not to us anyway, he talks to his imaginary friends. It's always something to worry about because we don't know how he will act when we are out.

"I've not read anything in the notebooks about guns yet, but I'm jumping a few years forward, so I might find something." Ares leans forward and grabs a beer, and then leans back. "The fucking eye melted, they've put something in there, if we touch it, it's gone."

Who the hell are these people? They have to be able to get all this high tech shit, without leaving a trace. They have to be powerful people, how else are they hiding every step they take.

"How's Esha?" I ask. Not wanting to talk about how we have no information yet again, seems like this is all we have every single time.

"The docs have given her the needle shit treatment, she will be home tomorrow," Ares replies then walks away taking the empty containers with him.

He hates there's nothing he can do to help her, but he also knows she knows how to handle them, which he hates more.

"Next time a body comes with a camera in it, we're going to have to figure out a way to get some information from it," Nyx says looking at Tic who's saying some random shit to himself. Ares joins us back at the table, patting Tic on the shoulder and telling him to get up ready to go. "We're going in blind, just watch your back."

We all nod, we normally take the car, but I think we all need to ride tonight. We've all been closed off with what's happening in our heads.

My demons are itching to escape they want to take over my day and nights. I feel the flames on my skin, I feel the burn, the smell of my skin burning, and now I just want to ride on my bike and try to feel a little peace.

We parked the bikes a good thirty minutes away from the warehouse making sure no cameras were around to see us parked there.

We stop just outside the warehouse when we see lights on. Looking between each other, why the hell are lights on at one in the morning? When I looked into the warehouse, it's been empty for about a year, so I know no one should be here.

We look around to see if anyone is around so we can put our masks on. Nyx and I worked on a CCTV jammer when we first started out being the Ghosts. Making sure we are never on any footage, we got it to shut down CCTV cameras as we walk past them. So far it seems to be working for us, as we've never been caught.

Ares and I walk one way, while Nyx and Tic walk the other. We get to the back of the warehouse, and stop when we hear voices coming from inside, we can't make out what they're saying.

"Can you see how many?" I ask Ares but he shakes his head,

I hear Nyx in my ear." It's empty, all I can see is a box." How can it be empty? We just heard voices.

"I was craving the smell of blood." I nod with Ares' comment, it's been a while since I've killed, and my body needs something to realise the burn inside my body, being around Emily, and not being able to touch her, it's getting hard. Maybe killing someone will help me get some peace for a small moment. "We just heard a voice, someone is in here."

"Check the entrance for any wires before going in. Watch your backs, we heard something, so anything can happen," Nyx tells us.

We both make sure it's clear before opening the door, the four of us walk to the middle of the warehouse towards the box. It's not so much a box, it's a casket. What the fuck is happening? Ares and Tic open it and I look inside.

"Nothing in there-" I stop talking when the lights go off, pitch black.

The four of us gather around, standing next to each other ready for whatever is coming our way.

This was a fucking trap, they wanted us to find something in the video, knowing someone would come. But they wanted Wesley.

"I wouldn't move if I was you-" The four of us look around for the person talking, but stop when two red dots appear on Tic's chest.

"Look," I tell Ares and Nyx pointing to Tic's chest.

"Ear pieces," I hear Ares, and the four of us turn our voice box switch so when we talk it only goes to our earpiece and no one else can hear us.

Nyx and I spent a long time making sure our voice boxes were small enough to be in our masks, and bandanas, so we can talk to people who we need to talk to, but also turn off when we only need to talk to each other. We spent months on a system. We used a voice trap machine which we made ourselves. I've used the same device they use for noise cancelling headphones. We just used it so our voices bounced from there and into our earpieces.

There were a lot of trials there, but we finally got it fixed, and we've never had a problem with it, so far.

"Could Detective Greyson not come tonight? I was hoping to see him." A voice appears, and I try to focus on the direction it's coming from. We don't want him to think it's affected us. "But it seems like he's sent four clowns to do his dirty work."

"To the left," I say, and all four of us turn to face him, and I hear laughter coming from his direction.

"You take one more step, then I shoot," I listen to the footsteps, and he's stopped a good distance from us.

"Let him shoot-"

"Shut up, not happening," I cut Tic off. No way anyone is shooting my brother.

"I take it you're not the talkative type," The man talks again, but my attention is moved to the sound I hear behind us.

More footsteps, more than one. "We're being ambushed," I tell the others, and there is a silence between us for a moment. "I'm counting eight."

"Eight. We need the shooter," Ares adds, and the three of us agree.

"Who are you?" The man asks, while I work out where the other men are standing. The room is too dark for us to see anything, so I know he can't see us, meaning the man pointing the gun is looking through a dark mode lens.

"The shooter isn't in the room," I tell them.

"Plan?" Nyx asks, and I stay quiet because I'm still thinking.

"Tic you're going to get shot-"

"What?" Ares cuts me off.

"It's dark in here, this is our world, we live in darkness. We can move but the man has his finger on the trigger to shoot, we move fast enough the bullet should be through and through," I tell them.

I know we can take on who's in the warehouse, but we have to move fast. I don't want my brothers shot, but it's the only plan I have right now.

Ares moves first, and the gunshot goes off, followed by three more, and Tic falls. Fuck.

"Tic," I hiss.

"I'm...go...good," Tic answers, and we move again, and the shooting continues.

I feel the burn from a bullet hitting my skin, but keep going. We need to take them all out and find the man.

The bullet graze hurts, but I don't pay it any mind. I'm more concerned about Tic, who's holding his side, and his shoulder, it must be worse than I thought.

I pull my knife off and throw it at the sound of a groan, hitting someone. I move around the corner and knock another guy out. I look up and see the man running and go after him.

"Get Tic and get the fuck out," I tell the others, and I hear Nyx, fighting someone.

I take off, ignoring the pain in my shoulder, and follow a man. I have no idea what he's running from. I still hear the voice, but I know the one who planned this isn't here.

I hear him running ahead, and the sound of a car, and I push myself faster. I see the tail lights of the car as he jumps in and takes off. I stand there for a second, and take the chance to breathe.

I have no idea what's happening, but whoever he is, he knows the Ghosts, and that makes me uneasy, it will make my brothers uneasy.

I aim my gun and start shooting at the prick's car. One bullet goes into a tire, the car skids, and I keep shooting.

I run again, needing to see who the fuck he is, and the car stops. I keep running, and stop when the car turns. He's getting out, with another man following him.

When I'm close, the guy turns, and I raise my gun and start firing. I watch as the bullets hit the asshole, he's dead. I go to shoot the other, but before I can get close to him, a car pulls up and he jumps in. Fucking hell.

"Fuck," I whisper. The asshole's got away, and I'm standing here out of breath.

"You need to get out of here," Ares says, and I see him running up to me. "Your shoulder's grazed." I chuckle to myself when when I look at him, he looks more fucked up than me.

"Who is this?" I ask, and the guy shakes his head. "You know who he is?"

"No idea," he says, kicking at the dead body on the ground.

"Tic took out another one, and I got the third."

"That means four left," I growl. "And I want them all dead, unless Nyx has killed them."

"Where's Nyx?" I ask, and he points.

"Taking care of business."

"This is all fucked up," I mutter, and then wince when he grabs my shoulder.

"You're gonna have a nice scar, but you're fine."

"Great, it can be added to the million I already have." I groan.

"You killed someone, nothing new for us," he states, and I look down at the body, and shrug.

We get back in time to see someone throw a smoke bomb. Everything turns into chaos, and we're fighting for our lives. I have no idea where the guys are, but I can't see shit.

I fight back the best I can, but it's like there are three of them. I take a few hits, but finally knock the guys out.

"I ha...hate th...those fucking things," Tic growls, and I can hear him, but can't see shit.

"Anyone have any bright ideas?" Nyx asks, and I feel the smoke around me.

"Not one," I say.

"You four need to leave. Or the police will find you." That voice again, and I turn towards the sound.

I take a step, but someone hits me from behind, and everything goes dark. I force myself to see through the stars and kill another man. My gun is empty, and I'm swinging it around like a baseball bat.

I feel a knife stab into my arm, and the asshole twists it, and I growl.

I grab the hand, and twist the knife back, and then shove it into the man's chest. He falls, and I'm bleeding everywhere, but I'm pissed.

I'm still trying to catch my breath, and I hear a click behind me, and I hold up my hands.

"Don't move, or I'll blow your fucking brains out," someone hisses, and I nod. "Drop the knife."

I got this. I can trick him. I smirk to myself, and then the lights turn on, blinding me, and I blink. "Don't fucking move, asshole," the man hisses, and I look around. I have no idea where the others are, and I don't want to make any sudden moves.

I look up, and then the man behind me grabs my mask. He's going to find out who I am, not fucking happening.

"Drop the gun," I growl, and he laughs.

"I don't think so."

"Then fuck off," I snarl, and I turn, grabbing the gun and twisting it out of his hand. I point the gun at him, and he raises his hands. "Who the fuck are you?"

"Don't you worry about that."

"Tell me," I say, and he smirks.

"I have nothing to say to you."

"Why the fuck not?"

"Because," he hisses, and his phone rings. "You're not the one I wanted to talk to. And now, you're dead."

I feel a sting in my neck, and reach up, and yank out the dart. I look at the asshole, and fall to the ground. What the fuck did he shoot me with?

"Now, you're coming with me."

"Like fuck I am."

"You have no choice. Now, shut the fuck up."

Bloodshed. Revenge. That's all I can think about.

I feel adrenaline pumping through my veins, and I feel the fire burning inside me, and I fight it. I fight the poison in my blood, and wake up.

"I can't believe we got them all."

I look up as if I was in a trance. There's about eight dead bodies.

"We didn't get them all. The main guy got away."

"It's a start. Now, let's get the information we need, and we'll send them home in a body bag."

I open my eyes, and look around, and then close them. Fuck, what happened?

I feel like I've been hit by a truck. The room is moving, and then I hear a scream. It's loud and piercing, and I cover my ears, but it doesn't stop.

"Fuck." I groan.

I get up and start running. I have no idea where the hell I'm going, but the screams won't stop, and it's driving me fucking crazy.

I turn the corner and see a guy, and I grab his head and twist, and his body drops. I don't look, and I don't care.

There's a door, and I shove it open, and the screams are even louder.

"Stop," I yell, but the screams are deafening, and I grab the guy and break his neck, and he falls. I'm dizzy, and I close my eyes, and lean against the wall, and then something slams into me. "Fuck! Let go?"

I let go. It's Nyx. "You okay?" he asks, and I shake my head.

"Where the fuck are we?"

"No idea, but I don't want to be here."

"Why are you fucking screaming?"

"I'm not, time to get the fuck out of here."

I nod, and we head for the exit, and I see a door.

"Over there."

We run and shove the door open, the night sky, and I look over at the bikes and I wince, and cover my eyes. "Fucking hell," I growl. "What the fuck did they do to us?"

"Drugged us," Ares says, and we look up.

"We need to get out of here. Now."

We get on our bikes, and Tic is not looking good, the bullet hit him, but he still fought with us, he wasn't backing down, didn't think he would, but I think the drugs fucked him up more. "You're too far, it will cut off." Ares voice begins to cut off.

Someone had to stay back, and wait for Wesley to come clean up. There are knives in there with our blood on it. And he also takes fingerprints off the ones we killed, and hopes we get a hit.

Ares was the one who said he'd stay back, as he didn't want Wesley to be alone.

I didn't fight, they wanted him in the warehouse tonight, they wanted him dead so we're not risking him coming alone.

Once they are finished, they will meet at the flat.

"Nitro?" Nyx asks.

"Check?" Nyx shouts into our earpiece.

"Nothing I don't do to myself," Ares says, and I can't help but laugh, only he would find a thrill with being stabbed.

"Cut but nothing I can't handle," I say, and look over at Tic on his bike. "Tic?" He doesn't say anything, and I move my bike over to his, taking his handle and Nyx grabs the other while Tic gets himself sorted.

"Go...good," He takes his handles back.

"Nitro get to the apartment, and send Wesley to the warehouse-"

"Tic?" I cut him off.

"I've got him, Wesley has things there for you to clean up. But he needs to get to the warehouse, our blood is there and he needs to get rid of it," Nyx shouts, this is the first time they had the upper hand on us. We weren't prepared for this, and Nyx isn't going to let it happen again, none of us are.

"Call with an update," I say before revving my bike and speeding off because he will be going slower as Tic can't ride too fast.

I let the cool air hit me as I ride faster than the speed limit, because I need to get something on my wound before it starts bleeding too much.

It was a fucked up night, and not one of us is going to sleep until we find out who this fucking man is.

Wesley will go to the warehouse, then to the apartment so we can talk about what the fuck happened tonight.

I called Wesley to open the door for me, because I didn't want to wake Emily up.

The door closes behind me, and Wesley stands in front of me with a roll of bandage in his hand.

"Lift it up," he looks at the wound, then hands me the bandage. "Wrap it up while she's sleeping, I will be over as soon as I get the place cleaned up." He leaves the apartment, and I quickly wrap it around myself. Then walk over to the freezer to get some ice for my hand.

Dropping on the couch I lean back and put the ice on my hand. Lighting up a joint, my head back on the couch and close my eyes while I smoke, and try to forget the fucked up night. Placing the joint in the ashtray, I rub my eyes. I need to sleep, but I need to find out who this man is. I close my eyes while I think for a moment. There's a clue somewhere.

They wanted Wesley there, not us. Meaning he's a target, but the man is too stubborn to be locked up in one place. He knows who the man is, but at the same time he doesn't.

I stay still feeling someone in the room, I've not done anything wrong. Why do they want me now? I keep my eyes shut, maybe they'll think I'm sleeping and leave.

Never happened before, they like to play games, not just with my body, but with my head.

My body hasn't recovered from the last game they played with me. I still feel the fire burning on my skin.

Why do this? How can they think this is fun?

I feel them walking closer, the one thing I've learned being here for so long, how to live in the darkness, read the room, the energy, listen to everything around you, it's amazing what you can hear when you focus.

They stop in front of me hearing the soft breathing, feeling the tip of their fingers on my chin.

I open my eyes, grabbing the neck of the person in front of me. Quickly standing up I slam them into the wall.

"I only...wanted to-"

"Oh little tiger-" I lean in closer to her, loosening my grip. "-if I wanted to show you my face, I would have shown it."

I take a step back, and it was a fucking mistake, a huge fucking mistake.

I knew she had tattoos, I had seen the odd one, but fuck, little tiger is covered in them and I want to rip her shorts and tank top off to see what else she has.