Leon took a step back and he nodded.“You had one thing to do and that was to plan an attack to make it possible for someone else to do what they had to do.You came after two innocent women.”He turned and glared at Julius now.“You carried my granddaughter out of the clubhouse.You followed them to the cave and you were going to return them so someone else could harm them, maybe even kill them.”Then he turned to Henry.“And you should never have gone with the other two in that jailbreak.That makes you complicit.Plus, lying to me.I do not abide lies.”
“What are you going to do with us?”Myron finally asked.
Leon shrugged.He stepped back and allowed John to step up and take photos of them.
Henry blinked and asked him, “Why did he just take our pictures?”
Leon smiled.“Oh, these will be the before pictures.”
“Before pictures?”Julius gasped.“What do you need those for?”
“If we find that you and Myron lied to me like ole Henry here.These will be so we can identify the remains, silly man,” Leon assured them.“We need examples for the future perhaps.No one will recognize you when I’m done with you as I’ll enjoy every moment of this activity.I haven’t done this in a very long time.”He rubbed his hands together as if he were about to partake in a favorite hobby.“But sometimes someone does something that is so egregious that you have to shrug off a layer or two of civility and get right down to the nitty gritty of things.”
John looked over at him and asked, “What do you want to start with?”
Leon turned to him and replied, “The X.”He turned back to his captive audience, leaned closer and his voice lowered to a whisper, “Grabbing my family members was your last mistake.You think even for a moment that I’ll let you go free and unpunished?No senors, I will not let you go without repentance.”
“B-but I thought repentance was us working it off or something?”Julius asked in a raspy, fear filled voice.
Leon slowly shook his head.“The price.Remember I said that everything has a price.And painting my garage or mowing the lawn will not cut it.Now you will feel what the Familia usually does to those who betray us.”
Not one of the men said a word.They all had paled by at least two shades, however.
Leon shrugged then he turned to John and nodded.
John went to the next room and rolled out a large wooden x into the cell area.
Four men of John’s men came in through the doorway.
John knew Leon well, he knew his boss.So he had texted them to come and help to arrange this very setting.
The four other men brought Henry out from inside his cell.They stripped off his clothing and secured him to the x.
They then did the same with Myron and Julius.
Julius struggled but John’s men managed to secure him.
Julius and Myron began shouting about how they had been forced to do it.No one seemed to listen to their pleas.
John walked over to a cabinet, unlocked it and carefully lifted out a leather roll.He went to a table, laid the roll down and untied it.He rolled the leather out.
The captive men’s eyes widened when they saw what was inside that roll.A collection of razor-sharp knives of all sizes.
Leon stepped forward to tap then raise one knife after another.
Julius frowned.“They look like hunting knives.”
Leon turned his head and smiled.“That’s exactly what they are.Skinning knives to be exact.But not to worry, they are so sharp you won’t even feel them untilafterI strip the skin off your bodies.”
Julius swallowed hard and asked, “Y-you’re gonna skin us?”
Leon shrugged.“You refuse to tell me anything valuable.So yeah, I’m gonna strip the skin from your bones.Bene, don’t worry, I’ll leave enough of your skin for theafterpictures.”He looked over at John and took off his jacket.He handed it to John and said, “Put this somewhere.I have a dozen of these shirts but that is my favorite suit jacket.I do not wish for it to be covered in blood.I have a feeling it’s going to get disordinato in here.”
John cocked his head at him and asked, “Do you want headphones to block out the noise?”
Leon shook his head.“No, I want to hear their screams.It will soothe me.Perhaps I will no longer feel such rage when I am done.You know what they say...that is bad for the blood pressure.”He chuckled as he chose a blade and walked around the backs of the men.Then he made his first cut on Henry.
The man began screaming as Leon tore a strip of skin from his back.The strip was perhaps three inches long and two inches wide.
