They came to her, those horsemen, and in return for their vile vengeance, they took her heart and held it in their inked hands. They claimed her flesh with carnal delight, but it was her soul that they craved most of all. And to them, she gave it freely and without restraint.

“Your brilliance is a jewel in a wasteland of a world,” Oscar tells me, snapping my reverie, making my heart race. I throw my arms around his neck, and he shudders. But not in the way he used to, when my every touch made him remember the worst parts of his childhood, but in the way of lovers well-familiar with each other’s bodies, in the way two soul mates find comfort in one another.

Because that’s what they are, all five of them: soul mates.

That is, if you believe in that kind of thing.

We head upstairs together, shedding clothes, ten worshipful hands caressing my body. When I fall into bed, I fall into it with five beautiful monsters. Five beautifully broken Havoc Boys turned men. We kiss; we fuck; we meld.

That’s how I get my happily ever after, wrapped up in ink and bullshit. Wrapped up in motherfucking Havoc.

Confucius says dig two graves before embarking on a journey of revenge.

I guess he was right.

When you go seeking revenge, some small part of you will die a death … someway, somehow. But from the ashes of that, something new will rise, something different, something better.

“When you’ve been lied to by everyone around you, when you have nothing else, you realize the one currency you can carry is truth. So a single word does have meaning. A promise does hold importance. And a pact is worth carrying to the grave.”

There are two sides to every story, but usually, only one of them is true. I’ve given you my truth, written my words, told you my tale. It’s up to you to decide what to do it with it.

The world is built of stories, crafted of pain, outlined with beauty; every story deserves to be heard.

This one, this one is mine.

There’s one word you don’t utter at Prescott High, not unless you want them to own you.

H.A.V.O.C.

Hael, Aaron, Victor, Oscar, Callum.

And of course, Bernadette.

Cry ‘Havoc’ and set us loose, baby.

Blood in, blood out.

The End