Chapter 6 - Watch Out For Satan

Flashback 

Two Years Ago 

Dylan adjusted his hat and caressed the spikes on the crown of his staff as he looked at the dark-skinned man chained before him, his head hanging. The man was stripped down, save for the underwear covering his privates. He observed the man's build, he was quite muscular. His biceps pumped as he strained against the binding force of the chains. They both were certain of one thing though; there was no getting out unless Dylan decided so.

Three other men stood behind the chained man with their hands clasped behind them. The Vicar, Bishop and another of Dylan's top men, Luther, all dressed in black suits and white shirts.

"Why did you do it?" Dylan finally asked.

The man spat out blood before raising his head to look at Dylan, revealing a bloodied face borne out of a series of beating from the 7 Daggers. He looked at Dylan for some seconds and sucked his bleeding lower lip before looking away.

"I asked a question, Ceaza" Dylan said calmly, further caressing his staff.

"What was I supposed to do? The damn cops were on my ass and their fucking Chief wasn't helping" Ceaza replied.

"And you had to bribe them with my drugs?" Dylan asked.

"They wouldn't hear of me paying them in cash. They wanted the stuff" Ceaza replied in defense.

"And what was my rule concerning cops?" Dylan asked again, this time lowering his head to get a better view of Ceaza's face. "Hmm?" he hummed when Ceaza wasn't answering. 

"Never do deals with cops who aren't the chief in the district" Ceaza murmured.

"There was a reason for that rule. I have a public image. Once or twice, paparazzi might catch me with you. What happens when someone identifies you as a drug dealer?" Dylan asked rhetorically. 

"That's why I have their chiefs on my payroll. These are the only ones you can make deals with. Did you give your district's chief his due this month?" 

"No" Ceaza exhaled.

Dylan turned around in disdain. "Do you see where your problem lies?" he yelled. "There is a reason we pay them their dues. They keep their subordinates in check for Christ's sake, Ceaza" he turned back to him.

"Now your section is compromised and my stuff is in the wrong hands!" Dylan thundered.

"I don't just entrust areas to anybody. I do it with trust and Ceaza, you have broken that trust. You acted stupidly and you broke my rule. Those are two things that don't sit well with me" Dylan said in a grave tone. 

"I did what I could, Pope. There was no other way" Ceaza pressed.

Like lightning, Dylan's hand swiped and the next second saw his staff whipping Ceaza in the chin. The spikes on the crown tore into his flesh, making blood spill in the process. Ceaza closed his eyes and gritted his teeth as he took in the pain.

"Do not talk back at me" Dylan hollered, stressing each word. He twisted the crown of his staff, screwing it off the body and revealing a sharp pointed blade at the tip of the body.

"By the rules of 7 Daggers, you deserve to be killed, but as one of those closest to me, I will grant you the mercy of the Cross" he said as he walked around Ceaza, running the tip of the blade along his torso, drawing blood in the process. He stopped as he noticed a new tattoo at the middle of Ceaza's spine. It was an impression of a crown that had a sword at its middle. 

"Is this your new insignia?" he asked, piercing the blade into the middle of the sword. "Is there something you're not telling me, Curtis?" he added, calling his real name.

"You know everything, Pope" Ceaza said, his expression blank.

"Look to the Cross" Dylan ordered.

Ceaza tilted his head upwards, fixing his gaze at the white cross carved into the ceiling in the room. Next came the sound of slicing in the air 

"Aaaaaargh" his screams echoed, his body writhing in agony as Dylan slashed him violently seven times all over his body. 

Dylan whipped his staff in the air, wiping the blade of blood and replaced the spiky crown covering. He adjusted his suit and walked out leaving Ceaza whose body hung with blood oozing out of his biceps, back, thighs and calves.

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Present Day

Dylan washed his face in the ceramic washbasin in his bathroom. He rested his hands on the washbasin and looked at his reflection in the mirror above it. He closed his eyes and exhaled, taking his mind back to what he saw.

As she twirled, right there in the middle of her spine, he had seen the exact same tattoo on Chelsea. A crown with a sword in the middle. 

"Fuck" he exhaled and rose from the washbasin, walking back to his room. He had left the minute he saw saw tattoo. He could still remember the confused expression on her face but he didn't care. If he hadn't left, he probably would have done something that would stain his image forever. 

He pulled out a white shirt and an ash suit and contemplated on his next course of action. 

Initially he had reveled in the hopes that she was just a random lady who happened to get the chain via one of Black Ceaza's boys who stole it. But seeing the exact same tattoo he saw on his last night with Ceaza on her, and in the same spot, this wasn't just any random lady.

Ceaza had left after the torture that night and never returned. He surfaced months later as a new mafia don by the name of Black Ceaza. He disrupted 7 Daggers' operations and his activities gave rise to the revival of many dampened mafia cartels. 

Dylan wasn't going to let a prodigal son destroy what had took him years to build. So he began what he called The Cartelimination, a series of well-plotted operations that was focused on killing all the rival mafia kingpins in Florida. 

He was successful in the process and soon all the rival cartels were erased, save for one, The Black Romans, led by Black Ceaza. The final showdown cost Dylan a handful of men, including Luther, but the Black Romans were finally exterminated. Black Ceaza, however, escaped. Since then, Dylan lived in fear of his re-emergence. 

"There's only one way to face the devil" he said to himself and threw on the white shirt.