As we walk into the room where Peter is being held, I notice Benjamin is just inside the door with an Uzi, standing guard. Unnecessary force, really. While some might say he’s trying to look like a threat when he’s barely five-feet-tall, I know he chooses the Uzi because it’s the gun that killed his father. Theexactgun. It’s personal for him. He used it to avenge his father’s death, and he’s used it for every kill since.
He flashes me a smile, and then his attention is trained on Peter again.
Peter watches us approach, dismissing Nori entirely as if she’s not even there. Yep. We’re doing society a favor with this one.Though arguably, we’re always doing society a favor by getting rid of the criminals who slip through the fingers of justice.
Probably.
“Van Doren,” Peter says. There’s no surprise there. He greets me as if he’s been anticipating this meeting.
I don’t answer as I approach, stopping just outside the ring of light so I remain in shadow. An amused smile climbs one side of his mouth.
“What’s this about, Van Doren?”
“Besides you being the lowest scum of the earth?” Nori muses.
Peter doesn’t acknowledge her.
“You think you’re untouchable,” I note. “You think all the bullshit and hate you spew will gain traction in the world.”
“Isn’t it?” he asks, amused. “Look at what’s going on right now. My exact views are taking over the government. They’re getting louder. Reaching farther.”
“Illegally,” I point out. “These people can’t win fairly, and that’s why everything is rigged. That’s why news networks have gone to court claiming to be entertainment when they’re charged with misinformation. That’s why you have the government hiding the erasure of people and removal of rights in bills about child pornography, because you know damn well no one would vote for them on their own. You have politicians bullying other politicians, ignoring the American people’s wants to pass their own agenda. You have idiots like you passing laws to put Bible verses in schools because you know damn well no one is following your bullshit willingly; you’re turning more people off organized religion than you are convincing them what you believe is real.”
Somewhere in that, something I said struck a nerve. His shoulders are tense, his lips pursed.
“I’m not even going to touch on subjects that your middle school education can’t comprehend. Bottom line is you’re only going to be remembered as a villain. Just like every other person like you has been and will be in history. I know you think you’re going to change the world, but look around you. Take a lesson from the thousands of years of recorded history before you. Even if stupidity like yours reigns for a short time, it’ll be short-lived, and the world will regard vile people like you with scorn.”
His nostrils flare. His eyes flash. Peter is angry now.
“Your dictator heroes have all fallen in the past, and they’ll continue to fall in the future. They aren’t and won’t be remembered for anything good.”
“I really hope you believe the bullshit you spread,” Nori says, “because nowhere in the Bible does it say you’re going to heaven for being a bully, cruel, shooting people for existing, or treating people as disposable. In fact, one of the Commandments you support being placed in public places is to love thy neighbor, is it not? The Bible is full of people just like you going to hell.”
Peter sneers at Nori. I can see his hate as if it were a current making his skin glow.
“I was going to be the one to kill you since you shot someone I love,” I say. “Instead, I’m going to let Nori kill you however she wants as long as it takes all night.”
He looks at me, eyes narrowed. “No, you’re not. You’re going to let me go.”
Nori takes my knife from my hand and marches forward. Peter fights his bindings, trying to pull himself free to get away from her.
“I think I’ll skin you alive,” Nori says.
Peter thrashes, cursing her and calling her all kinds of nasty things as she tears his shirt from his torso.
“You should note how sharp the knife is,” I say, sliding my hands into my pockets. “She could peel every individual layer of skin from your body one by one.”
“That’s an idea,” Nori says, and I watch as she slides the serrated blade of the knife over Peter’s chest, taking one of his nipples with the transparently thin layer of skin. He screams, jerks backward.
Unfortunately for him, the chair is welded to the floor. He’s not going anywhere.
“Oops,” Nori says, holding the knife up to examine the nipple on the edge of the blade. “I didn’t mean to do that yet, but I must say, your screams are beautiful. Better than any hymn you lead in your sermons, father.”
He meets her eyes, his hate shining brightly.
“I can’t wait to get to the goods,” she says, smirking.
Ah, there it is. The tiniest sliver of fear. We can work with this.
