At this point, Jacob started to panic. He had never been in this situation before. He had just watched his teacher kill another man, and that same teacher was walking towards Jacob. Jacob tried to run but a bottle was caught under his foot, tripping him. Mr. Gardener started to approach Jacob as he was frantically trying to run away. Jacob finally got to his feet again but it was too late. Mr. Gardener grabbed Jacob from behind and looked him straight in the eyes.

“Well, well, well,” He said, “Look what we found here. If it isn't Jacob Drill.”

“I- I’m sorry sir, I- I didn’t s- see anything, I- I s- swear.” Jacob was stuttering under the amount of pressure.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard that excuse before. Why don’t any of you just say ‘yeah, I saw it?” At this point, Jacob was panicking even more.

“Hmmm, ya know what?” Mr. Gardener said, “I have an idea! Follow me!”

Mr. Gardener put Jacob down and motioned for him to follow.

Jacob followed Mr. Gardener for what seemed to be around 30 minutes. It was around 8:30 at night when they arrived at an office. Jacob followed Mr. Gardener through the office. It looked cold and empty when Mr. Gardener opened a door that was all the way in the back. The room looked to be an office, and Mr. Gardener walked in, sitting on a chair behind a desk.

“Jacob,” Mr. Gardener said, “Take a seat.” Jacob walked over to an empty chair and took a seat.

“Jacob, You saw me kill that man, right?” Jacob nodded his head.

“Well, since you are my student, I’ll give you two choices. One, you die. Two, you join me and pay for your life.”

“Join you in what?” Jacob asked.

“Let me formally introduce myself. My name is Logan Gardener, Caporegime of the Wolf Pack Mafia, a small-time gang.”

“Mafia?” Jacob asked.

“Yes, mafia. Now, will you please make a choice, I really don’t like killing my students?”

Jacob swallowed the saliva that was filling his mouth.

<><><>

Date: January 16th, 2021; 9:45 AM

Jacob woke up in a cold sweat; he wasn’t ready for what was to come. Jacob jumped out of bed and put on some clothes, at least something that looked nice. Jacob walked out the front door trying to not alert his parents.

Walking down the street, Jacob was shaking. He couldn’t believe what he was about to do; it terrified him. Jacob tried to walk down the street as inconspicuously as possible until he reached his destination. Walking toward the door, Jacob’s hands started to shake. He felt a sinister aura coming from the other side of the door. It felt like once he opened this door, there was no turning back. Reluctantly, Jacob grabbed the door handle and swung the door open, walking inside of the building.

“Jacob!” Jacob saw Mr. Gardener sitting in a chair in the office, legs crossed and his hands waving in the air. “I didn’t think you would actually come.”

“Well. . . I kinda had no choice!” Jacob gave a nervous smile.

“It’s alright, the others will be here soon and we will be off to our next assignment. It will be an icebreaker for you.” Mr. Gardener smiled at Jacob, making him even more nervous. “Now, what are you doing? Take a seat.” Jacob took a seat by an empty desk. His leg started to shake the longer he was in there until. . . someone else walked in. “Hey boss, I’m here.”

“Hey Lucas, you arrived on time this time!” Mr. Gardener said.

“I heard we had a new recruit so I wanted to see him.”

“He’s right over there.” Mr. Gardener pointed at Jacob, who had just started to sweat. The man named Lucas walked over to Jacob and stared at him before he spoke. “Name’s Lucas, nice to meet you.” He outstretched his arm for a handshake.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Jacob.” Lucas was blonde, 21 years old, 6’ 1”, and enjoyed killing people. He was a long-time friend of Mr. Gardener and had been in the mafia for a while.

“What are your skills, Jacob?” Lucas asked.

“Gunslinging and Dimensional Magic.”

“Dimensional Magic?”

“Yeah, it’s a type of magic I have been working on,” Jacob explained.

Lucas had a surprised look on his face. “Huh, that’s pretty cool. Did you know this Logan?”

Mr. Gardener also had a surprised look on his face. “I did not, that's pretty cool kid. What can you do?”

“Well, I haven’t made my first spell yet.”

“It’s alright kid,” Mr. Gardener said, “I’m sure you’ll get there eventually. You can at least work on your gunslinging.”

The door to the office opened once again, interrupting the conversation. This time, a woman walked in. She had brunette hair, a well-built body, and skimpy clothing. She was wearing a leather jacket, unzipped, exposing her chest, wearing only a bra. She had on leather pants and black high-heels. In her hands, she had tequila and margarita mix.

“Do I hear Mar-ga-ritas!”

Lucas face-palmed, “Lily, it’s 10 am, put the alcohol away.”

Apparently, this girl’s name was Lily and was the same age as Lucas.

“Aww c’mon, all I want is a little sip.” She begrudgingly put the bottles on a desk and sat down. “Who’s that guy?” she asked as she pointed at Jacob.

“That’s Jacob,” Mr. Gardener said, “He’s our new recruit.”

“Ohh really?” Lily licked her lips as she walked towards Jacob. Jacob was already on guard as soon as she walked in. “Well, well, well, what’s your name kid?”

“Jacob.”

“How old are you?”

“16 ma’am.” Jacob saw her eyebrow twitch. ‘Mission accomplished,’ he thought. What Jacob was going for was to piss Lily off. He didn’t want her all over him, so he decided to say things she didn’t like would work.

“I’m not a ‘ma’am’ you know. I’m the prime age of 21.”

“Sorry, ma’am.”

“Pfft!” Lucas laughed when Jacob said ma’am for a second time.

“Hmph, whatever. I’ll just go to my desk.” Lily walked angrily to a desk that was across the room.

The door to the office opened for the third time and a new person walked inside. The man had shoulder-length black hair and circular glasses. His pointed ears gave away the fact that he was of elven descent. He was carrying a katana as he quietly walked his way to another desk.

“Hey, Hector!” Lucas said.

“Sup.” He didn’t say anything else. Jacob was shocked by his behavior and wanted to greet him but decided against it.

“Alright everyone, time to get to work!” Mr. Gardener yelled.

“What’s the job?” Jacob asked.

“We are Tax Collectors, now grab your suit.”

“Suit?” Mr. Gardener came out of a closet and revealed a grey two-piece suit.

“Here you go, Jacob!” Mr. Gardener said. “It’s an auto-fitting suit.”

“You mean the one that fits any person who wears it?”

“Yeah, you need to dress to impress in this job, put it on.”

Jaco ran to the bathroom and put the suit on as fast as he could. As soon as he did, the suit sucked in, fitting itself to Jacob’s body. Jacob looked at himself in the mirror and smiled. He never thought he would look so good.

Jacob walked out of the restroom and saw that everyone was wearing grey suits and masks, weird ones at that.

“What's with the suits and masks?” Jacob asked.

“Oh, it's business attire.” Mr. Gardener explained.

“For what?”

“Well, we gotta look good on the job and hide out identities,” Lily said, acting like it was obvious.

“Let’s go!” Mr. Gardener said.

The party walked outside, and Jacob saw the vehicle they were going to ride in.

“A minivan?” Jacob asked.

“I know it's not practical,” Mr.Gardener said, “But it works.”

Jacob hopped into the van and put on a mask, ready to do his job.