Page 36 of Fragile Facade

“No,” is all Ransom answers. “You have any other terms?”

Lock shakes his head for now.

“Here are our terms. You have to establish yourself as the leader of The Misfits, however you do that within your crew.”

“A vote,” Lock says.

“If they agree to ally with Vile House, they don’t get to know our identities. Only you do. Then you have to prove loyalty to us by being branded with our mark.”

“What fucking mark?” Lock asks, throwing his very heavily tattooed arms wide. “Don’t got much skin space left.”

“We’ll find space. If you agree to those terms, you’ll become our partner, and at least one of us will reveal our identity to you. From there, we work together, not only to defeat Reaper Corp, but to better our town moving forward. Which means you give us all the information you possess, and we’ll do the same. Moros is the focus.”

“If we survive,” Lock mutters.

“You’ll be sworn to secrecy once you know who we are, and if you break that trust, there will be a rivalry between our members, and I promise you, The Misfits won’t win.”

“Fine,” Lock agrees. “If I meet those terms, I want one more thing. For my crew.”

“Say it,” I blurt.

“Training. A lot of them only know how to fight and defend, not to think. They’re soldiers, which is probably what you want, but I want better for them. I want them to be able to work as a unit. To trust one another again. I want you to help me establish that level of strength within them because right now, they’re fucking lost. Yates beat them down and only used them as murderers. They deserve to be more than that.”

Ghost doesn’t say anything, but he’s nodding. His teal mask agrees with everything Lock says. I know he wants to say more, to comment on their lack of status and ability to work as a unit, but until he’s forced to reveal himself, he’ll keep his mouth shut.

“We can do that,” Director says. “We’ll helpyoudo that.”

Lock nods again. “Alright, thank you. I’ll gather my crew and put it to a vote. I’ll be back when I know where I stand. How do I get in contact with you?”

“For now, we’ll get in contact with you.” Ransom pulls the front door open. “This is your only chance to leave without a fight or a bargain. Don’t waste it, Tate.”

Lock grins as he sweeps his eyes over the foyer one more time, taking it all in. Vile House is such a myth, built into the lore of Moros, and its mystery is what keeps it so powerful.

“Night, boys.” He leaves, and Ransom closes the door behind him.

“Initiate,” he calls, and Selena Sauder comes forth, masked in a plain black Purge mask. “You have any of your brother’s skills?”

She looks over her shoulder at us, unsure which mask hides her brother’s face, and I swear I can see her smile through her eyes. She nods at Ransom.

“Follow him. Report back on the vote.”

When she looks back at us, proud of being given her first official job as a member of Vile House, we all fist our hands over our hearts at her.

“Careful, girl. Don’t challenge my reputation too much,” Ghost says, revealing his mask colour to her.

Selena gives him the finger and heads out the front door under the cover of a dark night.

With the door locked and the house ours again, we all take our masks off. I spin mine to let it sit at the back of my head, but almost everyone else pushes theirs to the top of their head.

“No other identities revealed to her until she moves up a rank,” Ransom warns, his dark eyes meeting all of ours.

“She’s making the ten. I know it. She’ll be my girlie bestie,” Kyd declares, looking at Seven. “She’s doing awesome, right?!”

Seven runs the initiates the most, so he’s always got the inside scoop on how they’re all doing. He pushes his mask up and nods. “Yeah, she honestly fucking fits here. Won’t be long until she’s tested and named.”

We all look to see what Ghost thinks of that, but he’s not here. Everyone laughs. It’s about time I go find him and remind him who is in control of this bargain we have.

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