Chapter 6: Adam "Spine-Snapper" McDull

I guess it's safe to assume you all read the title of this chapter. You may be wondering what I mean by spine snapper. It's really quite what the title indicates. Adam McDull has been snapping spines for over sixty years now... He was a fucking legend! In fact, he was one of the people who inspired me to kill as well, back when I was more lost than a kid at the mall. Let's just hop into where and when we met him.

(December 23rd, 1991) (Abandoned slaughterhouse)

It's been a couple of days since Maggie introduced herself. That day I began to see us becoming a group. Us as in: myself, Rachel, Simon, Maggie and Bruce. So on this day, with the weather finally holding up a bit, I called upon them to an abandoned structure way off in the outskirts of the city.

It was a slaughterhouse years before, but now it was empty and waiting for someone to take it. I remember having Rachel at my side, holding my hand like she always did, gawking at the site of that building. With its rusty, broken roof and the nasty chipping of the paint due to the weather and erosion. It was a eerie site to most, but to us murderers, it was home.

Even Bruce muttered some incoherent sound from behind. Despite not being able to talk that much, I took it as a pique of interest. Maggie kept whispering to Simon about how much she could do with this place. He even spoke up and stated, "We could mass kill in this building! And no one would be the wiser."

(So he thought, but alas I'll get to that later). There was a fence surrounding the actual plot of land, with old barbed wire lined along the top. We figured it would be best as to not draw attention to the front so we all scurried around to the back. Luckily enough, there was a fence gate which was actually open.

As we headed through it, I saw the old fence lock and slid the metal down. Despite all the hushed conversations behind me, I felt all alone. It was that moment when I saw the sun beating down upon one of the ocean's channels. The way the light reflected... It gave me goosebumps. I even shuddered a bit; something inside me stirred and it wasn't my blood lust.

I didn't know it back then, but I understand now. That was my conscience. It moved within me at that time for a reason and yet, I didn't know why. I never felt that way before; that weird mixture of guilt and sorrow. Ever since I killed that prick in high school, my sense of good and bad had felt shaky at best. (Forgive me, I'm going off topic.)

I heard a voice behind me; that beautiful, angelic voice. "Are you coming honey?" she asked me. Honey? I remember thinking. We're up to nicknames now? I had to think of one, so I pondered as we entered an old red door in the back. After walking through a few hallways and past various amounts of broken windows, we entered a massive room.

All along the sides were troughs where the cows would eat as these machines punctured their brains. I could actually see the areas where they'd keep the steel rods. It was then that I thought of a perfect nickname for her. I looked at her as she smiled and whispered, "I think I love you babe." That name sounded so cliche but perfect at the same time.

The way her eyes lit up gave me a lust like nothing else ever achieved. Our lips were locked and I even felt her tongue coursing down my throat... (Sorry again. I gotta get to Adam.) Right, we had just met back up with the rest of the group who were all chatting to each other; Bruce was listening all the while.

That was when we heard a loud slam off in the distance. I knew right then and there that it came from that old door we had just entered. For a bunch of murderers, we turned into a group of fuckin' pussies within seconds. I even felt Rachel's nails digging into my arm as she shuddered.

Then a low, raspy voice broke through. I remember to this day, the first thing the man said to us all. "What the hell do you think y'all are doin'?! Don' you ever leave that door open! Do y'all wanna get fuckin' caught?!" He sounded so old which made sense since he looked like it too. He had a long, gaunt yet wrinkly face with a huge, thick white beard. His nose was long and his ears were enormous. His left eye was completely white and his right had this bright, piercing blue.

Whatever hair the old man had was slicked back with grease. He had a mixture of Italian and Irish in him, I could tell. He even had that thick Irish accent. That day he was wearing a pair of overalls, a grimy white shirt and the dirtiest pair of work boots I've ever seen. He stepped over and flipped a switch. Instantly the entire room was illuminated.

The old man stated, "Hello. My name is Adam McDull and welcome to my establishment!" The way he gave us that semi toothless grin freaked me out but nevertheless, I gave him the respect he deserved. I remember giving the man a handshake; his hands were so severely callused and rough from years of hard labor.

"Hello Mr. McDull. My name is Shane Sorinthia. This here, by my side, is my girlfriend Rachel Zale. Behind us is Bruce Franciso, Simon Virgo and his girlfriend, Maggie Bailey." Adam smiled at us again, before spitting a thick wad of dark brown liquid off to the floor. "I'd like to first off say, if you wish to do business with me, then please ask me first. Secondly, this is my building. My family owned it for years providing food for us until I grew old enough to take over."

He started to pace back and forth with his hands folded behind his back. I began to wonder at the time if he was some sort of murderer associated with the mafia... Little did I know, I was right. He had a stoic presence about himself. The way he spoke to us was genuine, stern and considerate. He'd talk with his hands and from time to time, give us that grin he always used.

"Anyway, I left the Irish mafia twenty years ago. I went away for another ten years and then started my own killing business right here, at my old family's slaughterhouse. After forty years of being a professional hitman, I developed a sort of urge, as you kids say nowadays. I had to keep killing; it's in my blood after all, right?" He stopped speaking long enough for all of us to mutter, "Right."

I know I can't talk for everyone in my group, but I knew they felt the same way I did. We were intimidated by such a powerful man and we didn't know how to react. The temperature in that room was so frigid, that I had lost feeling in my feet. Had Rachel not been holding my hand, that would've gone numb too.

Adam ran his hand over his hair a few times before continuing. He slid up a chair, sat down, and gazed upon us all with that unforgiving eye of his. "I see who y'all are. That girl wears her trophies around her neck, which is bold lass." He nodded towards Maggie in the back. "Th-Thank you!" She was so nervous and I couldn't blame her.

"My question is, how the fuck did y'all come to meet each other? I mean, who the fuck are you anyway?!" He said right at me. I didn't know how to respond to the man. My forehead started beading with sweat and my heart kept beating faster than usual. "I-I'm Sh-Shane Sorinthia, l-like I stated before." "Sorinthia eh? Is that Italian?" (He disregarded my somewhat smart mouthing words, thankfully.) All I could muster was a nod. (The man fucking scares me okay? I've pointed it out multiple times in this chapter, I know!)

"Well then... Seeing as you, Bruce and Simon here only have the Italian last names, we can do business. Yes, I am Irish and yes, I worked for their mafia, but I could've easily worked for the Italians as well, but I digress. You three, come over here. You two ladies just huddle over there." He waved off to the left side. I noticed a huge furnace which hadn't been started yet. "Go ahead and light a fire over there, we'll be in touch soon."

Maggie nodded happily and ran off to start the fire. I remember that look Rachel gave me that day. She wasn't scared anymore, but still looked a little nervous. Nevertheless we kissed and I followed Adam with Bruce and Simon in my wake. He hauled us aside to an office room, which looked so dirty and unkempt.

He motioned towards three moth eaten chairs; we all sat and watched as he steadied himself on his desk. (If you could call that moldy old thing a desk.) Off in the distance, I saw Rachel and Maggie hugging each other by the newly lit furnace, smiling and chatting all the while. That warmed my heart so it heated me up enough to proceed forward.

"I see the way you look at that Rachel dame." Adam had my full attention now as he crossed his legs up on that desk. "I used to be in love once." He gazed out towards us three. Bruce was fidgeting around again, clasping his hands over his ears. (I knew that the voices were bothering him again, which meant someone was about to move into that house.)

"The fuck's the matter with that one?" Adam nodded towards the big guy who kept rocking back and forth. "He hears voices which tell him to kill any time someone moves into his old house." I explained Bruce's story to the old man who seemed shocked and appalled all at the same time. And at the end, there was sense of wonder in his eye.

"So you killed your family and then yourself?" He was looking straight at Bruce, who nodded. "You then came back and you can't move on unless you stop people from moving into that house?" Again, he nodded. "Wow...I feel kind of bad for you lad. It ain't abnormal for a murderer to hear voices though. So don' you feel any different, okay?"

Bruce actually stopped rocking and looked right at the old man. Had his mouth still been there at the time, I knew he would've been smiling. Adam must have felt the same, fore he grinned in return. "Right, the reason I called you three over here is to hash out some rules. I know why y'all came into this building and I don't care that you broke and entered. Hell, I'm happy y'all did. It's what I would've done!"

He got up and stood right before us. That dominating presence was pouring off of him, forcing us all to listen and obey. "You're Shane, right?" I nodded. (The speed of which Adam forgot our names worried me a bit, but I learned to let it go.) "Right, you will be the second in command from now on. This is my building so what I say goes as long as y'all are workin' here." I couldn't argue with that logic so I nodded again.

"And you." He pointed at Simon with those thick fingernails of his. "You will be under my second in command. Whatever he says outside of this structure goes. Do you understand?" "Y-Yes sir!" "Good." He then turned towards Bruce and actually got to his knees, if you could imagine that. He looked him straight in the eye and stated, "Like I said, it is not uncommon for murderers to hear voices. I don't know how you can manifest yourself, other than the fact that you're obligated to. If someone comes to that house and you have no choice but to kill, then do it. I will understand if you have to leave from time to time."

He grabbed the big guy's head and smiled. "Do you understand?" Bruce actually nodded and Adam hugged him. If I wasn't mistaken, maybe it was a trick of the light, but a single tear ran down the left side of the old man's face. (I didn't know murderers could be sad, but I am mistaken.) "Bruce, when you can be here, you will be the muscle, okay?" The big guy issued a noise. "I'll take that as a yes."

"He guided us out of the room and back towards the girls who were still talking to each other. "Ladies, come hither please!" The two of them haphazardly stepped forward, with Rachel in the front. "We have an operation going now. Don't worry about money, I have plenty of that. I will compensate you for each and every successful task. Upon completion of said task, I will have more waiting for y'all. Is that understood?"

We all replied, "Yes sir!" Rachel slipped her hand back into mine and Simon was wrapping his arms around Maggie's stomach. "Y'all just go back to your homes. I will contact you as soon as I have a the first task ready.

(October 15th, 2041) (Late night)

I had to break off from that; the chapter was getting way too long. Anyway, we did just that. Simon, Rachel, Maggie and I returned to the apartment room, with hope in our hearts. Bruce had to leave, because someone else had moved into that house. A sad thing about that house came up, by the way. I was visited by a young woman later that night; the one he killed before finding us.

She told me that Bruce had slaughtered a family with four children, all of which were under twelve years of age. He killed children... Now I knew he needed help with destroying that house, so I did just that. We had time to kill; that night when he showed up at the apartment, I consoled him. I promised him that he'd be okay and by the next morning, he and I were standing outside of that house.

With it's two stories, white picket fence surrounding the front yard. The way that the bright blue paint reflected from the sunlight; it was blinding. I'll tell you what we did to that house in the next chapter. (Also, just an f.y.i. I didn't know that the Slash and Burn Society would come into fruition December 23rd. Technically it was the first night that it formed. I'm aware of that now, but back then I had no idea.)

We still have two more murderers to introduce, and I'm pressed for time. I gotta go though, lights out. This is Shane Sorinthia signing off.