ASHES OF IRON HAVEN
780 Words
The engines screamed through the mountain roads.
Ryder rode at the front, his face hard as stone. Ava held on tightly, the cold wind stinging her eyes as fear settled deep in her chest.
No one spoke.
No one needed to.
If Iron Haven had truly been attacked, every second mattered.
As they reached the final bend overlooking the clubhouse, thick black smoke rose into the morning sky.
Ava's heart stopped.
"Oh, no..."
The front gate had been blasted open. Several motorcycles lay on their sides, their chrome frames twisted and scorched. The garage doors hung from broken hinges, and shattered glass covered the driveway.
Ryder accelerated.
The motorcycle skidded to a stop in the middle of the compound.
"Claire!" he shouted.
Silence.
Club members rushed from every direction. Some carried buckets of water while others dragged injured men away from the burning workshop.
Samuel immediately began directing people.
"Get the fire under control!"
"Mason, check the east building!"
Ava jumped off the motorcycle and searched desperately.
Then she heard a familiar voice.
"Over here!"
Claire stumbled out of the medical room with soot covering her face.
Relief flooded Ava.
She ran forward and hugged her tightly.
"I thought..."
Claire smiled weakly.
"I'm tougher than I look."
Ryder hurried over.
"Report."
Claire's smile disappeared.
"They attacked ten minutes after you left."
"How many?"
"About thirty men."
Samuel joined them.
"They knew exactly where to strike."
Ryder's eyes narrowed.
"Inside information."
Just then, Mason emerged from the garage carrying something wrapped in a black cloth.
"Boss..."
Ryder looked at him.
"What is it?"
Mason slowly uncovered the object.
A leather vest.
The Iron Haven emblem had been slashed through with a knife.
Pinned to it was a folded note.
Ryder opened it.
Only six words were written inside.
YOU CAN'T PROTECT EVERYONE.
His jaw tightened.
"Victor."
Ava looked around the damaged compound.
"This is my fault."
Everyone turned toward her.
"If I hadn't come here..."
"No."
Ryder interrupted firmly.
"This is Victor's fault."
"He made this choice."
"You didn't."
Ava lowered her head.
She still couldn't shake the guilt.
Because of her, innocent people had been hurt.
Claire gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
"You're family now."
"We protect family."
Before Ava could respond, a young mechanic came running across the yard.
"President!"
Ryder turned.
"What happened?"
The young man held up a small electronic device.
"We found this hidden under one of the trucks."
Mason took it.
His expression darkened.
"It's military-grade."
Samuel frowned.
"A tracker?"
Mason nodded.
"Someone wanted to monitor our movements."
Ava suddenly froze.
Her mind replayed every moment since leaving the abandoned church.
Raven...
She remembered bumping into Raven during the escape.
A slight touch against her boot.
Her eyes widened.
"My boot!"
Everyone looked at her.
She quickly removed it and turned it over.
Stuck beneath the sole was a tiny black tracking chip.
Mason carefully peeled it off.
"So that's how they found us."
Ava closed her eyes.
"I'm sorry."
Ryder threw the tracker onto the ground and crushed it beneath his boot.
"Don't apologize."
"They underestimated us."
Samuel folded his arms.
"Boss, they'll attack again."
"I know."
"And next time..."
Ryder looked around at the damaged clubhouse, the exhausted faces of his brothers and sisters, and finally at Ava.
"...we won't wait for them."
Mason grinned.
"I was hoping you'd say that."
Ryder turned toward the crowd.
"Gather everyone."
Within minutes, every member of Iron Haven stood in the courtyard.
Some were bruised.
Some were bandaged.
But every one of them stood proudly.
Ryder climbed onto the clubhouse steps.
"They burned our home."
"They threatened our family."
"They think fear will make us hide."
He paused, looking every member in the eye.
"They're wrong."
A roar of agreement erupted through the compound.
"We don't run."
"We don't surrender."
"And we never leave our own behind."
The members raised their fists.
"Iron Haven!"
"Iron Haven!"
"Iron Haven!"
Ava watched the scene with tears in her eyes.
For the first time since losing her mother, she felt what it meant to belong somewhere.
But far away, in the top floor of Bennett Tower, Victor Bennett stood before a wall of surveillance screens.
One of them showed live footage of Iron Haven.
He smiled coldly.
"They've finally united."
An older man standing beside him frowned.
"Isn't that dangerous?"
Victor calmly poured himself a glass of whiskey.
"No."
"It's exactly what I wanted."
He picked up another photograph.
It showed Ava as a little girl standing beside her mother.
Victor's smile slowly faded.
"Bring me the journal."
"Kill anyone who gets in your way."
He looked out over the city skyline.
"The real game begins now."
- Writer
