Chapter 36 Enzo
ENZO
I lock the door at the warehouse, and I take a seat on a chair, watching. She knows something is about to happen. I can see the restlessness just beneath her facade of calmness.
"You can drop the act," I start. "I know exactly what you've done."
She laughs, whirling around to look at me.
"Enzo, you shouldn't listen to that bitch. She doesn't know about our bond." She has the gall to smirk, slowly making her way toward me.
"Why?" I don't elaborate, and she knows exactly what I'm talking about.
"I couldn't let your seed take root in her body," she drapes her hands over my shoulders. I keep watching her, the desire to finish her here and now overwhelming me. But not yet…
"So you decided to poison her."
"Of course. Now if she died…" she says, a smile playing at her lips.
"She's alive and well, Mother," I inform her, and her features morph into cruel anger.
"The same can't be said about you, however," I stand up, my fingers circling her wrists and dragging her to the table in the center. Only when she sees the shackles on the table does she start to struggle in my hold.
But it's too late.
The back of my hand connects with her cheek and she reels back, stumbling onto the table. Momentarily confused by the slap, she doesn't even budge when I shackle her feet to the table, one in each corner.
I do the same to her hands, and for the first time, I see some real fear on her face.
"You see, Mother, I've been made aware of everything you've been doing to Allegra, and," I let that sink in before I continue, "I'm not pleased."
"The bitch deserved it! How could anyone like her be with someone like you? My beautiful baby boy needs someone far superior, not average like her." She spits the words out, and I start to see the root of her hate for Allegra.
"Hmm, and who might that be? That superior person you speak of?" I feign curiosity as I take a step back from the table, assessing her. Her limbs are spread into an X, her dress hiked up her hips, which will certainly help with my plan.
An eye for an eye.
A manic smile appears on her face, and I can already anticipate her answer.
"Me! I gave birth to you, so you can only be mine. There's no one worthier."
"Really," I drawl, disgust settling deep in my gut as I remember just how entitled she'd been to me and my body. "Is that why you kept trying to fuck me in my sleep?"
"It's not as if you didn't like it," she raises an eyebrow. "I can still remember the taste of your cum in my mouth." She makes a sick noise with her mouth, and I already feel like taking out my gun and shooting her.
Not yet!
"You're fucking sick." I shake my head in disbelief.
"Imagine the perfect children we could have!" she continues to blabber, more absurdities coming out of her mouth.
At this point, I can only conclude that she's either the most depraved being on Earth or she's just mental.
Or maybe both.
Taking out my phone, I dial Nero.
"Come in," I tell him, and he soon appears from a hidden door of the warehouse carrying two small cages.
"I always knew I was going to kill you someday, Mother," I say, casually circling her table, and she looks at me suspiciously.
She has absolutely no idea what awaits her.
"I only held off because of my sisters, even though you've never been an exemplary mother to them either.
But you had to touch Allegra." I make a tsk sound as I stop next to her head.
"You see, she may be average to you, but to me she's everything.
" Her eyes widen at my emphasis on the word "everything. "
"You can't mean that," she whispers, desolation ravaging her features for the first time.
"Oh, but I do," I give her a half-smile as I stoop to whisper in her ear, "and that means I will show no mercy." I hear her tiny intake of breath, and she must realize I'm being serious.
"But your father…he won't allow it," she sputters, and I can only chuckle.
"As far as everyone knows, you are now on a flight to Sicily for a prolonged vacation. Do you really think my father will ever remember you? There will be some postcards here and there, of course, but other than that, he won't care that you're gone."
She pales at my words, mostly because she knows I'm right. Throughout their marriage, he's made no secret of his many affairs or mistresses or of the fact that there's no love lost between them.
"I will show you exactly what it feels like to be stuck in your own skin, with no control over what happens to your body.
And don't think I have no affection for you," I add, and a spark appears in her eyes only to be crushed when I finish my sentence.
"I spent a great deal of time thinking of the perfect way to end your existence.
Granted, I've had more than a decade to think in detail about what I'd do to you.
But this?" I incline my head to where Nero's standing. "This is for Allegra, with love."
I stand up and, lighting a cigarette, bark my first orders.
I'd chosen Nero for this specific venture because I'd seen how trustworthy he could be. He's also a cold, psychotic bastard. I don't think he has any limits to what he can do to another human being. And so, the fun can begin.
Nero goes to the table and, rotating a small wheel, inclines it forty-five degrees, my mother's head oriented toward the floor while her feet are in the air.
He opens a duffel bag full of tools and takes out a speculum.
"What?" My mother's eyes widen when she sees it, and she starts thrashing against her restraints. It doesn't help, since I'd made sure of the tight fit.
Nero's face is professionally blank as he throws my mother's skirt over her hips and removes her underwear.
Then, he pushes the speculum into her vagina, enlarging the opening.
I take the last drag of my cigarette before throwing it to the ground and lighting another, moving around to get the full experience of my mother's emotions as she experiences the violation of her body.
Only, I'm not so vile as to use rape. On the contrary, my gentlemanly senses tell me I should be more gentle than that. She is my birth mother, after all.
Leaving the speculum in place, Nero brings forward a jar with a yellow substance inside.
I'd instructed him to make a very particular concoction. I admit I'd drawn a lot of inspiration from the ancient practice of scaphism, but I'd made a few tweaks to it so it would accommodate a different medium and a few other participants.
He opens the jar and starts pouring the contents into her vagina.
A mix of peanut butter, honey, and maggot eggs, diluted with some milk to give it a lighter consistency.
My mother starts screaming as the liquid makes its way inside her womb, the honey sticking to her uterine walls, the eggs embedding themselves in a very warm and welcoming environment—the perfect place for them to grow to adulthood.
Due to gravity and her position, no corner of her uterus will remain untouched.
I signal Nero, and we both retreat for a few hours—enough time for the eggs to start moving.
When we come back, my mother is in tears, her skin red and hot. One quick look and I can see some larvae moving around.
It's not a coincidence, as I'd had someone harvest these eggs for a while now, playing with the temperature of their environment to ensure they would be ripe for Mother's enjoyment.
"Please," she whimpers when she sees me, but I just shrug.
This is just the beginning.
I wonder how it feels to have your body invaded by foreign objects—moving, squirming inside of you…
As I watch the agony reflected on her face, I can't muster any pity.
She tried to kill my little tigress, and that's enough for me.
Already, I don't know if she can ever forgive me for what happened that night.
If I'm being honest with myself, I doubt the drugs had been entirely responsible for my behavior.
Not when I've been repressing my desire for her for so long, scared of the intensity of emotions she awakens in me.
And now? It happened, and I barely remember it.
I nod to Nero, and he takes one of the smaller cages, opening it to reveal a couple of starving rats. Taking them by the tail, he pushes them slowly into Mother's body, the rodents wiggling their way inside her vagina in search of the sweetness of the peanut butter and honey.
Already, Mother starts screaming in pain, and I guess they're biting more than their fair share, nibbling at her walls.
The entire time, the rats are ravenously eating at her insides, and I watch the agony inscribed on her face.
More… she deserves so much more…
But I don't have time for that. Not when my wife is weak and feeble, recuperating from a bout of poison.
Phase two done, Nero begins phase three.
Using an instrument resembling a scalpel, but longer, he starts cutting at Mother's uterine walls, leading directly toward her intestines. The liquid from her womb flows freely into the newly empty cavity, and with it, the rats burrow further inside her.
Her voice is ragged, almost out of power. But she's still awake.
I light another cigarette, releasing a cloud of smoke as I study her features. She's resilient, I'll give her that. But it's only helping me and what I have planned for her further with phase four.
Her eyes are half-closed and glazed, and no matter how strong she is, she can't take rats literally eating her entrails while she's alive.
Mother's entire body starts convulsing, and the corners of my mouth pull up slightly at the sight. The rats should be well on their way to her major organs by now.
Well, if that doesn't kill her, then hemorrhage, sepsis, or even a heart attack from the pain might.
"And now, Mother, I believe my wife is waiting for me at home. I'll be sure to send her your regards, especially when I get her pregnant with our first child," I say, bringing my hand up in a mock salute, but her almost-dead eyes barely react.
Satisfied with the turn of events and knowing that she won't last much longer, I instruct Nero to let me know when she's finally died and to throw her corpse in the Hudson afterward. It wouldn't be fair to exclude aquatic predators. Everyone should have a go at her.
Hmm, was I too easy on her? Maybe I should have auctioned parts of her body on the dark web.
It's late when I finally make it home, and Ana informs me that Allegra is asleep in her room, recovering from the traumatic experience of having her stomach pumped. I ask her to keep me updated, not wanting to intrude where I know I'm not wanted.