Protected by the Beast ✔

25

My shout out goes to Ireland, the Caribbean, Mozambique and Mauritius.

Riley's POV

*

I didn't know if it was supposed to be legal or not but each of us was actually handed a gun few days after the ritual.

Dennis had just began teaching me different models of guns and how they were being operated before we came to Italy and I'd only mastered the art of targeting the heart and the crotch. Dennis had also been pretty insistent and adamant while coaching me to target the crotch while shooting because it was a spot the enemy could never recover from and also it would serve as a mode of defense for me if anyone, be it male or female tried to attack me.

So this morning, it came as a surprise to me simply because we had just been initiated into the brotherhood six nights ago and they already trusted us to make use of guns.

The atmosphere was tense.

Ever since the initiation, we were always woken at five am to meet up at a field I'd never noticed since we got here and it was at that field where we'd been training. And boy, were the trainings rigorous.

Boxing tricks for two hours, wrestling for two hours, running around the field for thirty minutes nonstop and self defense mechanism. Then by twelve, we'll go have our bathe and have dinner and rest, only to begin training at the shooting range by 4pm.

It was exhausting.

The three men that led us outside and coordinated us, told us to get acquainted with one another and this morning, we were back at it, arranged in a straight line and each of us were handed white pistols. The whole vicinity had been illuminated but beyond, we could see the darkness that lingered due to the fact that it was barely daybreak

Then Bennie, the guy Dennis asked to watch after me before Massimo came to pick me in that room earlier on came over and told us to bunch up.

We did.

"Good morning niubbos?"

"Good morning Ben!" We chorused. He was our lead coach. Among the three of them who had been coaching us and giving instructions to our coordinators, he was the one who spoke the most.

Followed by Massimo. The third man rarely spoke and only went around and corrected us when we weren't doing things right.

"From this very moment what you see here or asked to do must not leave this premises. Anyone that is called talking to the authorities or to anyone considered enemy will be punished without remorse."

"Is that clear?!" Massimo shouted beside him and we all responded with a chorus of 'yes'.

"What's our motto?" Massimo asked sharply.

"Viviamo per la famiglia, moriamo per la famiglia." We chorused. The sleepiness was long gone and my eyes were clear. They always told us to be on alert, that we would still go through tasking procedures and this was just the intro. Meaning there were more to come.

"I can't hear you?!"

"Viviamo per la famiglia, moriamo per la famiglia."

"Louder!"

"Viviamo per la famiglia, moriamo per la famiglia." We shouted more vigorously.

"And what the fuck does it mean?!" The third man growled. He was large, a bit larger than Dennis and his voice was deep, and very loud even though he wasn't exactly shouting on top of his lungs.

"We live for the family, we die for the family." We all chorused.

"And what was your oath, you vibrant souls? What pact did you make with the elders when you dined with them on the night of your initiation?!" Massimo thundered again. He was pacing, looking serious.