Woods? Why was Eric called to a place in the woods? Was he found out? Did they want to wack him and bury his dead body there, so nobody would know what happened to him?

He hoped not, and if that was the plan of Don Luis, Eric had a few bodyguards with him, but were they going to be enough?

Eric was stuck in Philly and couldn’t return to New York because his contract giver HandsomeRob was dead. How ironic. He had sent Eric to Philly to find a job with a crew and spy on the gangs. HandsomeRob wanted to rule Philly, and one day HandsomeRob asked him to kill Adonis, but before Eric could hatch a plan, Adonis retired. Lucky guy.

After his retirement, Eric became part of Charlie__Pavanno’s crew, and he became his new target. But then the war broke out, and Charlie was dead, along with HandsomeRob…

Since then, it had been a roller-coaster ride for Eric. He had slowly accepted his fate. He was stuck in Philly now, and he needed to act like he was one of their own. Nobody knew about his reality, and he hoped it stayed that way. Forever.

But today, he was tensed. Something felt unusual.

“We are here.”

The voice brought him back from his thoughts. It was Jack, the driver cum bodyguard, and the father of Steve and Sonia, Eric’s two other bodyguards. Eric had hired a family of bodyguards.

Eric looked ahead from his Citroën. It was a cabin.

“Get ready fellas,” Eric said, swallowing hard. His bodyguards nodded and came out of the car with their guns. Eric followed them out of the car slowly and stood behind them.

His bodyguards got into position, and Eric pondered over what to do next, but before he could make a decision, the cabin door opened and…

At first Eric didn’t know what was happening, why the whole crew was there, why everyone was laughing, and why there was a knife on the table. It was all new to him. Was Don Luis going to stab him with a knife?

Then Don Luis did something horrifying, and Eric found himself taking a couple steps back, only to collide with Jack.

“Hey, you are being made,” Jack whispered to his ear. He must have seen this exercise before with his previous employer.

Eric found himself sighing in relief. Every day he lived in a fear that he would be found out, but everything was going to change today. He was being made, which meant that they trusted them, which meant that he no longer had to live in the fear anymore.

Eric was nervous at first but knew there was no turning back. If this was what was to be done, then so be it. He took the knife and with one single motion, sliced his hand open and let the blood flow from it into the goblet. He poured some alcohol into it and swirled around the goblets contents before looking back up at Luis and grinning.

"What were the words I need to say again?" Eric said, glancing around at the other guys. Luis smiled and repeated the words…

"You must speak these words after you sip from the ceremonial goblet..."

Eric drank the goblet, tasting the nasty contents of the mixed alcohol and blood before setting it back down on the table. He smiled and repeated the word of oath that so many have taken before him.

"As my blood joins that of those who went before me, I join this family with pride. In my days to come I will serve this family with honor. I will climb alongside my brothers & sisters and I will only die with them, on top of the highest peaks."

As he finished the sentence, the crew that was gathered was ecstatic, including Luis. They all approached and congratulated him with a pat on the back before passing the bottle around and getting drunk into the night.