34. The Demons Commuppance
Chapter thirty-four
The Demon's Commuppance
L ights turn on as soon as I enter in the threshold, and it takes my eyes a second to adjust as everything happens so slowly. First thing that I notice is that the lights above me shine dimly with a recessed feature. I take another step forward, and more lights begin to slowly flicker on one by one around the perimeter of the room, only bright enough to show me that this is a very large room with more concrete walls and nothing else. No window. No air flow. The center of the room is pitch dark.
My skin immediately breaks out into a fine sheen of sweat.
Memories of being held captive in that basement continue to assault my mind, and I take a hasty step back, smacking right into King's chest. His arms immediately wrap around me, holding me close. Despite him lending me his comfort, tremors start from deep within, and I close my eyes as I take a deep breath, trying to get a grip.
"I'm here," he whispers in my ear, but still I shake, unable to pull myself from the memories. "We don't have to do this, Izzy. You can change your mind and let them handle it. I won't judge you, baby."
Suddenly Frank steps to my side and tilts his head. "Look at me, lass," he says gruffly, pulling my attention from my fear. Our eyes clash, and I fight like hell to keep the tears from falling as my anxiety rises to new heights.
Trembling, I force myself to maintain his eye contact, attempting with everything in me to calm my rapid breathing. King's hand closes over mine even tighter, pressing into my belly.
Frank holds out an arm, pointing to the darkness as he pins me with a stern stare. "Your salvation is in that room. You just need to be brave enough to step in there and take it, Isobel." He tilts his head down and his eyes harden as he holds his hand in between us, clenching his fist. "Now, go show that piece of shit he didn't break you. Be strong!"
It's thankfully enough to free me of this paralysis. I nod at him, turning my head back to the blackness and step forward.
I don't stop until all the lights are turned on in the perimeter of the room; however, I am still cloaked in darkness. Suddenly, a small spotlight shines down on a cage in the middle of the room. It's square, eight feet tall, with iron bars about eight inches apart from what I can tell. And in the middle is Claudio who sits with his profile towards me. His head turns, and I see a bandage over his left eye.
Fuck he looks like hell, and it makes me feel so fucking elated I could shout to the heavens.
"Who's there?" he asks in a shaky voice.
His voice isn't near as strong as it was. The others walk in the room behind me, and each take a spot against a wall, letting me do my thing. King stays close, walking further into the room, but remains in the shadows with me. Staying quiet, I begin to walk slowly, circling the cage. The echoing of my heels adds to the eerie silence of the environment.
I assess him carefully. He looks every bit as bad as I did when I was rescued. His clothes are disgusting and covered in filth. He's lost a tremendous amount of weight. Though he's not tied with his arms behind his back, he has a thick metal collar around his neck that's attached via a bar to the top of the cage. There's no pallet, no blanket, no chair. No nothing. Just him and this cage.
"Has he been in here the entire time?" I ask, my voice ringing out.
Claudio's right eye widens, and his already pale face turns completely ashen at the sound of my voice.
"Yes ma'am." It's Micah who responds.
"How is he sleeping?" I ask, eying the bar. It's just long enough to let him sit on the floor, but nothing else. There's not enough slack to allow him to lay down, or even lean to the side even an inch. His only option is to sit.
"Best guess is he closes his eyes and does the best he can," Frank says.
At the sound of his voice Claudio stiffens and turns his head sharply, jerking on a groan and reaching a hand up to his neck which is completely encased in metal. I smile as I realize the sound of Frank's voice causes him great fear. Like his did me. He goes to stand up, and as he does so the bar retracts into the top of the cage. Most likely to prevent him from trying to strangle himself.
"What's that?" I ask, eyeing the little knobs at the top of the cage.
"It was your husband's request," Frank says, appearing by my side and staring stoically into the cage.
I turn to look at King who appears on my other side, arching an eyebrow at him. "Your request?"
"Well, no one really wanted to see you go into the cage with him, especially with the baby." His eyes lower to my stomach, where I'm cradling our child protectively in my hands.
Frank clears his throat, bringing my attention back to him. "Your options are: shoot him through the cage, have him quartered and put through a grinder, or acid." His eyes flick back to the little pipes lining the top of the cage. "Completely up to you." His eyes fall back on mine, which are wide, thinking about a person actually going through a meat grinder because, yuck. "I personally am partial to seeing them ground up. It brings me great joy."
Turning my face back to Claudio, I fold my arms and take a few more steps forward allowing the light to reveal me to him.
"Calliope," Claudio gasps, taking a step forward before being jerked back by the collar. He chokes for a second, wheezing for air before looking back at me again with red, watery eyes. "Calliope, please don't do this. Tell them to let me go. I won't hurt you anymore, I p-promise." A tear slips down his face, causing nausea to well up inside me.
"My name is Isobel," I say in an even voice. "And I don't give two fucks about what you want, you foul, ridiculous waste of space. You threatened my sister, you tortured and tried to break me, but worst of all, you almost killed my baby. And I don't know what world you grew up in where you were taught to not give a fuck about your kid, but where I'm from , you fuck with my baby then you will pay dearly."
Claudio's lips thin into a bloodless line and he begins to tremble.
Looking over at Frank, I pin him with a serious stare. "Give him all three. And I want to watch."
"All three, lass?" Frank tilts his head.
"Is that a problem?" I ask, tilting my chin up.
Frank pauses, his eyes glinting as he regards me. "No ma'am. You want all three, then that's what I'll give you."
"Good. Can you keep him alive for the grinder?"
In my peripheral I see King bring up a hand to rub his jaw, but thankfully stays quiet.
Frank stares at me for a few seconds before nodding once. "I'll keep him alive for you as long as possible." He snaps his fingers, then pivots on his heels. "You all heard the lady. Let's get to work."
"No," Claudio whimpers, bringing his hands up to scratch at the collar. "No please! Don't do this!" he yells, pleading for mercy.
Dismissively, I turn away from Claudio. King puts a finger under my chin, lifting my face up to him where he drops a chaste kiss on my mouth. "I love you," he says, staring deep into my eyes.
I give him a grin, ignoring Claudio's incessant pleading in the background. "You still gunna love me after you see how happy his torture makes me?"
He gives me a wicked smile back. "Oh honey, you don't even know it yet, but you've been promoted to the King Dynasty ball busting CEO position. There was a vacancy," he says in a serious, yet teasing tone.
"You two, stand back against the wall. Sprinklers are about to turn on," Frank barks out.
As we walk towards the wall, he brings out a device and Claudio really loses his mind. Frank walks to the cage and begins to speak over his hoarse cries.
"Claudio Maniotti, you have been captured and retained by this facility in order for you to face retributions for your crimes against the young woman standing behind me known as Isobel Sophia King." Frank says in a loud voice that echos off the walls. King slides his hand in mine, gripping tightly. "Your crimes include: stalking, kidnapping with the intent to human traffic, murder, the use of drugs to sedate, starvation, and intent to kill both victim and her unborn child. Your time at this facility has now drawn to a close, and you will be offered no last words, no last meal, no time to make peace with whatever savior, as you most likely don't have one. Your punishment is decided upon by your victim. Here is stage one, of three. If you cannot make it past stage one, a government official will administer an adrenaline drug to keep you conscious so you will mentally and physically bear the full brunt of your retribution."
Frank steps back and clicks a button. The collar releases, and Claudio drops to the floor with a sickening thud and a groan. The sprinklers turn on and he starts screaming as acid begins to fall from the top of the cage. It comes down in little droplets, not a heavy sprinkle like I thought. Claudio winces and then rolls to his side, yelling out.
The spots on his clothes where the acid touches him slowly disintegrate to show red burn marks. Once his clothes melt off, it quickly covers him, and he stumbles to his feet and lurches for the bars of his enclosure, screaming and crying out.
"Help me, Calliope!" he screams, his voice hoarse with pain. "Help meee!"
My eyes narrow as I watch him, elation filling me up so fast that I almost want to tell Frank to just go ahead and let me shoot him. But no. I want my comeuppance nice and proper. King's hand slides into mine, and he stoically looks on with me.
Selfishly, I can't bring myself to ask him if he's okay with what he's seeing.
When his clothes are mostly burnt off, and his skin is bright red and peeling from his body, a loud buzz brings our attention to the doorway which is opened by a trainee. A table rolls through the door, followed by a huge industrial meat grinder. My eyes widen.
It's one thing to ask for something in theory, but another to follow through. I turn my head to look at Claudio, pure hatred replacing my trepidation.
"This makes us no different, Calliope!" he yells weakly from his curled up ball on the floor.
"Are you okay?" King asks. "We can leave, if you'd rather not see this."
I wet my lips, narrowing my eyes as the sprinkler turns off and the men in protective body equipment walk into the cage, hauling him up, dragging him out of the enclosure and plopping him on the table. There's no need for restraints as he's obviously in shock. Blood smears the floor and on the table where he's squirming.
"I don't care if I'm going to have nightmares about this. I'm already going to have nightmares about what he did to me. At least now I have something to make me feel better about it all," I say quietly, watching as Frank steps forward and injects something into Claudio's neck.
Claudio seizes up, screaming an ear shattering sound. Good. I hope this next part really hurts. A muted buzzing sound fills the room as the grinder turns on, and I smile. Feeling truly happy for the first time in three months.
"No!" he yells, arching up off the table. "Nooo!"
They begin quickly, wasting no time. One of the men raises a giant knife and saws through Claudio's hand. Another scream rents the air and Claudio fights to get away, but the men hold him down. Frank takes the dead flesh, and tosses it into the grinder carelessly with an impassive expression on his face, as if he does this everyday.
Well, I guess he does.
They take it slow, dragging it on for long, torturous minutes. After every cut, they cauterize him to keep him from bleeding out. Claudio is shaking at this point. His teeth are chattering and his eye is flickering aimlessly at the celling. Every now and then you can hear a hoarse "help me," escape his lips, but pretty soon that ceases too, as does the life behind his eyes. Fading slowly.
We watch as piece after piece of him is cut off and fed through the grinder. Blood oozes through a hole in the table and trickles down. It's not long before I'm satisfied, so I step forward, not even caring I'm stepping into his blood with my Manolo Blahniks.
Coming up to his right side I hold my hand out for the knife the man to my left is holding, halting him from cutting whatever body part he's trained on next. He places it in my hand.
"Turn the grinder off," I say.
I wait until the room is completely silent, leaving us with just the sound of this fuck up of a human being whimpering on the table. Leaning into his ear, I speak to him softly. Ignoring the soft sounds of pain emitting from him.
"What makes us different is that you deserve this, and I didn't. Have a great time in Hell, Claudio."
Opting to slit his throat instead of shooting him, I put the blade to his throat and slice slowly watching as pain winces across his features and blood bubbles up and spills over his neck and out of his mouth. A few seconds later the light completely leaves his eyes. And though I'm standing in a room full of this man's filth, peace enters the space, making it feel light.
I look back at King, who's staring at me with a rather prideful look. He reaches forward, brushing his knuckles down my cheek. "I am so proud of you."
And he is, I see it in his eyes. My heart swells with love, and my eyes fill with tears. Happy tears for the first time in a long time.
"Thank you, I love you too," I sniff, ready to go back to our lives. "You ready to go, my love?" He nods his head, holding his hand out for me. I turn, eying Frank who also has a look of pride on his face. I hold my hand out to him and he takes it gently in his, giving me a squeeze. "Thank you, sir. What you do here is invaluable."
"Anytime, lass." His eyes glint as he looks at me. "No disrespect, but I hope to never see you again. At least, not under these circumstances," he says with a chuckle, letting go of my hand and stepping back to Micah's side, who's shaking King's hand and murmuring something to him about flying in to visit us next week.
King's eyes slide back to mine, and I see a mountain of worry and stress is absent from his features.
Taking King's hand, he leads me out of Buckhead quarters and back the way we came, into the rest of our lives. And when we get home, I enjoy the best plate of fettuccini alfredo I've ever had. My very first pregnancy craving.
And all is well.