Shadows Creed (Shadows Creed #1)

The Astor

Johnny stood frozen in the middle of the living room, eyes wide as the door was flung open and his parents were forced to stand against the wall.

“No! For fuck’s sake, sir…they’ve done nothing wrong,” he protested as he finally found his voice. Two soldiers stood with their rifles aimed at his mom and dad who stood with their arms around each other. Jason Berry stood opposite, expression cold, hard, as he glowered at the younger male.

“I am aware of that, Jonathan. Nothing is going to happen to them. But, you are coming with us.” Jason’s voice was clipped, brooking no refusal.

“No…I can’t go back there,” Johnny couldn’t prevent the whine in his voice. “Please…” His knees buckled and he grabbed onto the back of a chair. “Please…I can’t…” He didn’t care that he looked weak; he felt weak so it wasn’t like he was lying to himself.

Jason growled low, “You either come with us willingly, or you will be shot.”

Mary gasped and whispered, “No…” Frank held her firmly as he knew there was nothing they could do.

Johnny looked over to his parents, anguish written all over his face. He had known that the happiness and contentment he felt couldn’t last. Sure, Matthew had done a good thing in returning him to his family, but at the same time, Johnny had known it was a doomed exercise. It couldn’t last; he knew The Creed would be after him to return him to the Hell that was the Astor.

It had escalated suddenly. He and his family were enjoying a meal together when the sound of several vehicles pulling up in the driveway had caught Johnny’s attention. With a single glance out the window he’d recognised The Creed’s trucks and he’d set his knife and fork down, feeling sick to the stomach. He’d been of two minds: Make a run for it, or stay put. The first option sounded good, but there was no way he could escape. The second was the wiser option, though it wasn’t any better.

And so, here they were.

He swallowed hard looking at Jason. “Alright…alright…” He didn’t say anything else, just stood and turned, placing his hands at the small of his back.

The click of cuffs around his wrists made him shudder as he stood there. The soldier gripped his left bicep firmly and pulled him passed his parents. Frank reached out to him and pulled him into a hard embrace as the soldier stood back to give them space. Jason observed the family in silence as Mary joined her husband in holding their son.

“Keep your chin up, son,” Frank said firmly. Johnny nodded as he squared his shoulders. “That’s my boy.” There was a very slight tremor in the elder male’s voice. “We’ll see you…” He hesitated as he glanced at Jason who just scowled in response. Frank looked back at Johnny. “Just stay strong, ‘kay?”

Johnny nodded again then allowed himself to be led out of the house. He looked back over his shoulder to see his parents framed by the front door, holding each other. His stomach clenched to see them there. He tore his gaze away from them and submitted to the soldier who steered him to the truck and got him to climb in. He didn’t look out as the truck started and rumbled out of his driveway.

* * * * *

Johnny stood staring down at his feet, ignoring the jeers of the other inmates as he was processed. His heart was in his mouth and a dark foreboding settled over him as he knew there would be no Shadows to help pull him out of his funk.

Last he’d heard as his escort lead him to solitary was that The Creed were considering going after Matthew – the guards were muttering about it and Johnny knew there would be many an inmate who would be secretly pleased about that. Matthew had put a lot of them away and some of them were the type to hold grudges. And, considering the nature of what his friend was up to, it was no wonder The Creed were deciding to crack down on him. What bothered Johnny though was how fast it had all happened. He knew Matthew had been extremely careful and hadn’t toldanyoneabout what they were doing…