Ronnie Radke's Arc

Chapter 7 of 7

Bruno's ultimatum still rang in Ronnie's ears. The leak had a name now, but the loose mouth was still out there, and Bruno wanted it closed with blood. Ronnie called a meeting at the stadium before soundcheck. His band waited on the dark stage, tuning, chains swinging. Ronnie needed a plan to satisfy Bruno without staining his face across every headline. Elena came with her camera. Bruno arrived before Ronnie could speak. He swept down the aisle in his purple jacket, rings flashing, heels clicking on the concrete. He did not smile. He dropped a phone on the stage. It lit up with a shaky video. The parking attendant, drunk, slurring to a crowd about fangs and blood. "He's doing it again," Bruno said. "Tonight. In public. You had your chance to be quiet about it, darling. Now I do it loud." He pulled a lighter from his pocket and spun it in his fingers. "One fire. One accident. The whole problem gone, and your pretty face too." Ronnie stepped between Bruno and Elena. "You burn anything near me and the documentary films the smoke. Fifty thousand fans want their hero. A dead body ends all of it." "A rumor ends all of it slower," Bruno snapped. "I'm tired of slow." Elena lowered her camera. "Then don't kill him," she said. "Own him." Both men turned. "Ronnie recruits. The kid already talks. So bring him in. Give him the promise. Bind him with fear instead of fire. A corpse gets investigated. A fan gets forgotten." Bruno studied her. His jaw worked. "And if he runs his mouth anyway?" "Then he's inside," Ronnie said. "Inside, I feed him a lie. His own lie. It travels, I know it's him, and then you get your fire. Quietly." Bruno was silent. The band stopped tuning. He slid the lighter back into his jacket. "Fine," he said. "But the kid comes to me first. I want to be the one who scares him." He pointed at Ronnie. "Cross me again behind my back, and I stop asking." They found the attendant that night in the alley behind the venue. Bruno did the talking. He stood close, voice soft, and told the kid exactly how many ways a man could vanish in Arkham. The kid shook. Then Ronnie offered the other hand. Loyalty. A future. Fangs, someday. The kid chose to live. He knelt. Elena filmed none of it. The loose mouth was shut, not with blood but with a leash. Bruno had his win. Ronnie had kept his face clean. But walking back inside, Ronnie felt the shift. Bruno had forced the meeting, set the terms, named the price. For the first time, the manager had made the client move. The network was growing. So was the man who thought he should run it.