Ignition (MHAH)

3

"Shit.. Did you give him his pills?" The raven asks.

"No? I thought you did!" The brunet responds, confused.

"How would I have been able to give them to him if I've been down here the entire time!"

"Guys! Shut up!" The blonde chimes in, snapping.

"...We'll talk about your tone later." Everything they said was warped. Their words bounced around my head like rubber, everything i could see and feel beginning to distort.

"Levi... Kiddo, breathe.." The brunet says, standing up.  That's pretty much the last thing I hear before the world goes dark.

I wake up, back in my bed with Bunny by my side. I groan, sitting up as I rub my head. I don't think I seized, I'm not as groggy as I usually am -nor am I in as much pain as usual- but I never know at this point. If I said I wasn't shocked that the three men weren't in my room to greet me when I woke up, I'd be lying.

I slide out of bed and creep my way down to the stairs, freezing when I hear a new voice in the mix. As I'm about to make my way back to my room, a voice calls out.

"Levi?" It was the brunet. I sigh, stalking my way down the stairs and to the living room.

The layout of the house wasn't too confusing if I was being honest. The top floor had four, maybe five rooms. Near the third room, the stairwell was opposite to it. If you went down the stairwell, the living room was right there. The front door was to the left and if you took a sharp left, you'd be brought down to a hallway with more doors. To the right was a kitchen and at the far end of that room was the back door.

"Hey.. so before we get into anything else, lets try this again." The brunet says, handing me a bottle of water and two capsules. I look at him confused. These blue and white pills weren't the grey tablets I was given at the barn, but I guess that answers my question.

"..T-These aren't mine.."

"I know they're different, but the ones they were giving you at the barn were extremely low grade.. Correct me if I'm wrong, but they probably weren't doing much.." I stare at him, knowing he's right. Without much argument, I down the pills, cringing at the feeling.

"Great.. so uh.. we- we have somewhere we need to be for a few hours, but my dad is here, he's gonna keep you company and help you out if you need anything, okay?" It takes me a moment of analyzing before I realize that the three of them are dressed up in formal clothing.

I'm not sure in what sane world they thought that leaving me alone with another strange man was a smart idea. All three were in matching outfits, wearing black dress pants and dark red button ups. Each of them pulled off the outfit in different ways, but all three gave me the urge to get on my knees. As the brunet wanders away to make sure he has everything, the elderly man scoffing.

"Excuse these knuckleheads. They don't know how to do introductions for the life of them." He says, smacking the brunet upside the head. His voice.. He was the man from the barn who offered to place 4 million dollars on my name.

"I'm guessing they haven't even told you their names either, huh?" He asks, walking over to extend a hand. "Vincent." My face flushes as I shake my head. I don't grab his hand but I introduce myself as well.

"Levi."

"Idioti.. Don't even bother introducing yourselves to the poor boy when you turn his life upside down! Done sono le tue maniere? Aggiustalo!" He scolds, turning back to the three.

"Alright, alright.. Sorry pa.." The brunet says, stopping what he's doing. "I'm sorry kid.. I'm Justin, the blonde is Seth and the brooding raven who thinks he's the scariest man in the world is Ethan." He jokes, swatting at the air as Ethan points a scolding finger at him.

"..What do I call you?" I ask.

"Our names." The brunet responds. "Look kiddo, I'm sure you have a plethora of thoughts going through your head on what's really happening here, but I meant it when I said we don't indulge in children; okay? When you're 18, you can make whatever decisions you want, but until then, you call us by our names, understood?" He grills. I'm taken back by his tone, something far more harsh then I'm used to hearing from him. I bite my tongue and nod, shying away from him when he tries to rub my hair. He clears his throat and looks down at his watch.

"Alright Pa.. We uh, we gotta get going."

"Ciao." Vincent says, settling into a couch.

"Be good, kid." Ethan says, closing the door behind them. I stand there, mainly shocked at the fact they could carelessly leave a teenager alone with an elderly man and think I wouldn't try to run; so either this old man wasn't as old as he acted, or they knew that I wasn't ballsy enough to try and run away. Maybe it was both.

"You don't mind if I go have a smoke, do you?" Vincent suddenly asks, pulling out a pack of cigarettes. My attention suddenly perks, my eyes tracking the box as if its a lifeline. Vincent takes notice of it. "You want one, don't you?" The Italian man asks, chuckling when I shyly nod.

"I wont tell if you don't." He says standing up.

Biting my lip, I nod.

He leads me out front, taking his place as he leans against the patio railing. I tug on the sleeves of my sweater, passing my weight between my feet. He hands me a cigarette and lighter as he takes a drag, watching as I take both with shaky hands. I sigh in relief as the burnt plant fills my lungs with smoke.

"I'm sure every fiber in your body is telling you to run right now and I wouldn't blame you if you did. None of the boys would.. You don't have to trust me when I say they're good people and you're not obligated to believe it either.. But trust me when I say that Ethan has torn Justin a new one, almost every day for the past 4 years about you.. Just know that nothing bad is going to come of you while you live here. Lo prometto, ragazzo"

Four years? That can't be right..

~~~~~

Yes, Levi had seizures in the re-write.. it would make more sense if I published the prequel but it's extremely graphic and I'm not too sure how I feel about it.. I'm debating if I wanna slide memories from the prequel into this book instead