Chapter 1

A Chapter by Anna

As children, our mothers would always warn us not to be mischievous…that she could see all our movements. They do not mean to annoy us or to keep us from having fun, only to keep us safe. My mother once spoke that she even had the trees watching me. Now that I’m older, I really wish the trees were watching, so they could have tattled on me. Being a fearless eleven year old definitely was not my best quality. It got me into fights, run in with higher authorities, and even suspended from school. But worst of all, it persuaded me into disobey my mother’s strictest rule: Never cross the South tracks.

In our quaint Connecticut town, Ginsberg, which has approximately 700 people, a hand full of gangs roamed the streets. The Skull Bangers, Bay Hellhounds, Skeleton Guerillas, and Lakeside Crew were well known, but combined they stood no chance against the most vicious gang within a 100 mile radius. A clan made up of twenty-two pureblooded Italian members, all males, they made their name well known with their street work; the Faceless Assassins.

No one has ever seen their faces; they don’t walk around wearing ski masks like most say. Each member has a nickname, one to hide their true identity, and with that nickname they gain a facial print. The face paint usually covers half, if not their entire face. Hoods are then pulled over to hide any flesh and red contacts tie together the whole look. At night you can hear the jingle of their chains, smell the scent of their cigarettes, hear their shallow breaths, but only glowing red eyes appear.

In order to become a Faceless Assassin, a member must choose you for initiation. Strength, trust, and intelligence are tested; fail to succeed one task and you’re dead before you blink. However, if you manage to pass initiation the branding ceremony begins. The newest recruit before you, must take a flaming hotrod in the outline of ‘FA’ inside a skull, and place it against your forearm. The spot is right over the arms main vein internally and externally binding you for life. In rare cases, more than one newcomer will survive initiation with you. The two must be brand together, hands clasped, so they become one member.

Half-members must attend all meetings together. They cannot perform tasks by themselves, only with their other half. After five years, half members have to decide who will be set free from the gang and who will be re-branded as a fully fledged member. If the two cannot choose, they fight either until death or until one goes unconscious. Whoever wins, holds the fate of the others life in his hands. But there was one member who defeated all regulations and odds. She was the first and only female Faceless Assassin. I know this because my name’s Brenna Jay Saur… and I am a Faceless Assassin of ten years and still counting.

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