The flame hits his skin and a scream pierces the air, along with the smell of skin melting. It’s not a smell for the faint hearted.
I flick the torch off.
“We could make this quick, but where would the fun be in that? Usually I don’t like to draw things out longer than I need to, but I also like to be entertained, and that girl you tried to take will have four very pissed off boyfriends seeking retribution for your actions. I’m not an unreasonable man, Amelie is very attractive, and I know she would have made you a pretty penny. So I will forgive you for noticing her beauty. But selling human beings as sex slaves, is not a moral way to make a living.”
“Fuck you,” he seethes. “You think I don’t know about The Order and its illegal dealings?”
“You’re right,” I say, squatting down in front of him. “Illegalisillegal...but you see,moralsmean a lot too.Wedon’t force people to do anything they don’t want to do.”
A throat clearing behind me draws my attention to the door. The three stooges are standing there, murder reflected in their eyes.
“Thought you were waiting for us, asshole?” Onyx snaps, pushing off the wall.
“One thing I want to know is how someone so inconsequential knows about The Order? Who are you working with?” Sawyer asks.
The guy might annoy the living daylight out of me, but he is perceptive as hell.
“It looks like the party has arrived, any last words?” The look in his eyes now the Knox brothers have arrived isn’t one of fear like it should be.
“Did your bitch tell you the deal we struck?” he spits.
Onyx flies to his side, the loose cannon of the family. He drives a screwdriver of all things into Christos’ leg. A scream rips from Christos’ lips. “Call her a bitch again,” Onyx warns.
“What my brother means to say is that, yes we are aware, but something you might want to remember is that there was no mention of us not torturing you, just the killing part...so there will be a few hours of that first. And as for your death? We do have one person in the room who isnotone of Amelie’s boyfriends, but as our girl would say, ‘you can bet your ass’ he would kill for her,” the weaker twin replies.
“How slowly we draw out your death is up to you; maybe you have some intel you’d like to share? I believe someone has told you way too much, and I want to know why,” Sawyer demands. He does rank higher than all of us, especially now he is no longer teaching and has taken a full-time position within The Order.
Slate and Onyx move to the table of tools and pick their weapons of choice: Slate grabs a hammer and Onyx opts for a knife, simple and to the point. I take a back seat to the torture, knowing that these three have it handled.
“I wonder if we should punish him first or draw out information?” Slate asks Onyx, Sawyer watching intently.
“Punish him,” all three say in unison.
Slate swings the hammer and it crunches straight into his kneecap, a scream doesn’t even begin to explain the noise that rips from Christos’ lips.
“That is for my brother who couldn’t be here,” Slate spits. It’s rare to hear venom in his voice. He may follow his brother around like a lost puppy, but he is usually softer than Onyx.
When Christos pulls himself together, Sawyer moves closer, rolling up his shirt sleeves.
“How long have you been working with my grandfather?” he asks.
“Fuck you.”
Sawyer swings and his fist connects with Christos’ face, blood splashing back onto his clean white shirt.
“If he isn’t going to talk, maybe I should just cut out his tongue?” Onyx suggests, taking a step to join his brother. Holding out the massive hunting knife in his right hand, he grabs Christos' face with his left.
“Fine,” Christos mumbles, shaking his head to try to remove Onyx’s hand. “We’ve been working together for a few years. He gets a cut of the profits to ensure that I don’t get a bullet between my eyes.”
I scoff.
“Fat lot of good that did you. For a savvy businessman like yourself, you’d think you would’ve done your research on the girl.” I lean back against the wall and light a cigarette.
Torture really isn’t my thing, I prefer quick and easy, mainly due to the time wasted. Not that I don’t like to play sometimes, I do, but this scum isn’t worth my time. Well, he wasn’t until he took Amelie.
I really don’t know what it is about her, but somehow she has wormed her way into my life. As a friend only. Don’t get me wrong, if she was naked and willing, I wouldn’t kick her out of bed, but friends is not a word I use often. I have business contacts, those who owe me favours, people I can use to my advantage, but not an honest to god real friend. It’s alien to me.
Christos’ screams pull me back into the room. Onyx has pliers now and is pulling teeth with a wicked grin on his face. Pretty sure he’s loving this, and not just to avenge Amelie.
