Tw: violence

C o l e

This fucking sucks.

It's been less than a week since I've been here, in fact, it's been four days and every single day I've nearly/have gotten into a fight here. I know I told Eros that he didn't have to explain but maybe I was slightly regretting it.

These people only saw the son of the man who killed their friend and wanted to murder him. Granted that is exactly what I am and they weren't aware of my predicament but it was still pretty annoying to have to continuously watch over my shoulder.

Today should be a little better though as Eros informed me of some kind of meeting he needed to attend and that it would be held in a restaurant. I didn't have any problems with it, I was all for eating great food on someone else's dime and I'd finally get to relax while I ate.

At least that's what I thought.

"God, it's so hot today" I grumbled as I pulled on the collar of my suit. I've worn suits on multiple occasions but that didn't make me like them one bit.

It was suffocating and on hot days, wearing a suit was the perfect way to die in the sun. I, for one, hated the heat and the fact that summer was rolling around faster and faster with each passing day didn't make me happy at all.

"We can get some ice cream later if you so wish it but for now, please try to hold your complaints in. The man we're about to meet doesn't take well to those who speak without being spoken too" Eros said as he continued to read over the menu in front of him.

I didn't even bother looking at the menu, it's all seafood, which I'm allergic to. I gave no complaints and just said that I wasn't hungry. Jokes on me for thinking I'd get to eat for free, the thought made me sigh.

"Oh, ice cream? Boss, you're sure feeling generous!" Harvey seemed excited at the idea.

Oh yeah, these guys are with us too.

It was only obvious that he'd bring them, as I was told by Mikhail that Harvey and Jamie are two of his best men. Mikhail didn't come with us because there was some other stuff to tend to apparently.

"The offer is for Cole only, and I doubt he's going to say yes so don't get your hopes up" Eros said and Jamie patted Harvey's shoulder when he pouted.

"I'll take you for some later" Jamie soothed.

Deciding that I was done listening to this, I shifted my eyes and took a look around. I saw a bunch of men sitting at a table not too far from us and some other tables occupied as well. The restaurant was pretty quiet, hardly anyone was talking. But then as I continued to look around something began to stick out.

A few things actually.

There was only men occupying the tables, though not every table was full, there was at least 2 or 4 to a table and I managed to count exactly twenty men in the room. Not a single woman seemed to be around, there weren't even any servers.

I could also feel that a lot of them seemed to look over at us every now and then, nodding occasionally and a sinking feeling began to fill in the pits of my stomach.

"Eros..." I started, calmly so that those watching us wouldn't get the idea that I'm suspicious.

"Yes, dear?" Eros said and my eyebrow twitched.

"Don't call me that" I spat and Eros chuckled.

"Why not?" He questions. Why did this fucker feel that he needed to make light of every situation we're in?

"Uh...what's up?" Jamie asked and I know he was trying his best to suck up the fact that I was now one of them, but I could still tell that he was reluctant to talk to me or even be at the same table.

I respected the fact that he was swallowing his feelings in order to show me some human decency but it was unnecessary and I'd make sure to tell him that later. For now, I was more worried about the several elephants in the room.

"There are only men in this restaurant...none of them are seated alone nor do they seem to be eating anything. Their tables have empty plates and glasses of water, that's it" I explained but Eros simply picked up the drinks menu on his left, seemingly unbothered by my words.

"Cole, it's alright" Eros said and I felt annoyance build up in me at the fact that I couldn't express that we were probably going to be ambushed clear enough to get it through his thick skull.

"Do I have to drive my fork in your eye for you to understand what I'm trying to say?" I said through gritted teeth. Seeing my frustration, Harvey cleared his throat after taking a sip of his water but honestly I wouldn't even trust the damn air we're breathing right now.

"Sorry, Cole, his sense of urgency is kind of...nonexistent" Harvey said as he also took a subtle look at our surroundings.

"No wonder this nitpicky bastard isn't on time" Jamie grumbled.

It was then that a man dressed as a server came over to us. Seeing him, Eros looked over to him.

"Well it's about time, can't you see that everyone in this damn establishment is starving?" Eros chided and that was when all the men in the restaurant stood up.

"Always have to do things the hard way. Boys, remember your table manners" Eros said and we all got the message loud and clear.

I was thrilled that we were finally all on the same page.

We all grabbed our ends of the table cloth and lifted it, our glasses being flung at the man. Standing up from my chair, I moved to flip the table for cover as Eros opted for grabbing his chair and smashing it on a man the man's head.

I noticed Eros grabbing something from the satchel Harvey had brought and my eyes widened when I saw him pull out what looked to be some kind of tiny device.

Now why...I don't even want to know.

"Cover yourselves" Eros said and we all took cover as he threw the stun grenade. A few seconds pass before the grenade went off and that's when we moved.

Harvey kicked up a chair before throwing it at one of the men that was previously seated behind us whereas Jamie shot a bullet in another man's head before doing it to another.

Taking a leg that broke apart from Eros' chair, I slammed it down on a man's wrist on my right, forcing him to drop his gun. Reeling my arm back, I smashed the stick across the guy's face before kicking him in his abdomen and he went flying back into one of his comrades.

The sound of gunshots was louder than any boom box as all the men were firing randomly at us and I grabbed the man's gun before hurrying to duck behind the host booth for cover.

A few feet away from me, I watched as Eros roundhouse kicked a man in the face and when seeing another come up on his six, I rolled and used the gun I took to put a bullet in his head.

"My hero" Eros said with that annoying smirk and I ignored him. Going over to two men while dodging bullets, I smashed my foot in to one's family jewels before cracking his buddy across the face with a left backhand. I shot both of them in the foot before backing up a bit and dealing a low sweep kick, both of them dropping to the floor in response.

By now some of the men had already began to slowly regain their senses and were back at it.

To my surprise, I was grabbed from behind by my arms and since my legs weren't flailing, I took the guess that we were about the same height. So, I thrust my head back and heard the sound of a satisfying crack, before doing it again until the man let me go. I sent my foot back into his abdomen and then turned and shot him in the shoulders.

A bullet too close to my head for my liking whizzed past me and into a man's head behind me. Seeing that it was Jamie who fired the shot, I nodded at him in thanks and he returned it before firing at some other men.

I turned and saw a man aiming his gun at me from the long table so I quickly ducked and picked up a tray on the ground to use for cover before running up and jumping on the long table. While running across, I kicked plates and glass cups at him so it'd be hard for him to aim before finally tossing my tray at him. When I finally reached him, I kicked him across the face and he went down for the count.

I jumped off the table and did a quick survey. There wasn't many men left and some were hiding behind tables, likely trying to reload or taking cover if they're out of ammo. Eros seemed to notice this as well and he looked to each of us as he backed himself near the lights.

Getting the message, we all hid and that was when it went dark. We waited a bit and I could hear shuffling, then I saw the flash of lights coming on from those men, so the others began to take their aim. I however decided to let them handle it, knowing that there was probably very few men left so it wasn't necessary for me to get involved.

When it was completely silent, Eros turned the lights back on and hummed as he looked around at all the dead and maybe unconscious bodies.

"Not bad. At least we managed to keep the fight inside this time" He said and I was confused when he picked up a table and dragged a chair to it.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"It's rude to leave a mess" Eros said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. I was also surprised when Harvey and Jamie started helping him.

I can't believe they think the mess was the broken chairs and tables as if we didn't just lay to waste twenty men.

"I'm out of here" I grumbled.

"Hey, at least get the car ready if you're not going to help" Harvey said and I shook my head.

"Cars ain't my thing" I said before leaving the restaurant. As I walked out, I realized that it should have been obvious that this was a trap. There were no other cars parked out in the lot aside from ours and three big trucks.

I heaved a tired sigh and plopped myself down on the ground.

I've been an Azure Dragon for less than a week and I've had yet to rest for one minute. It made me wonder if this was how the rest of this year was going to go.

I guess the only time I'll get to sleep properly is when I'm dead.