14. Beelzebub
FOURTEEN
BEELZEBUB
Out of any room on Earth, this is my happy place.
I hum—loudly and cheerfully—and Levi and Asi bring in a tied-up man who wears an old sack over his head. The man is disoriented, staggering in his steps, and I have no doubt that’s because those two beat him silly before they got him here. Anticipation bubbles within me like sweet pleasure, curling my insides pleasantly until I’m busting at the seams.
This is going to be so much fun!
This is the fourth person we’ve tortured today in our special little room we keep in one of the neighborhood houses. Now that we’re out in the open, we easily could have done this at home, but Mammon’s boring about mixing work and play. Please, as if he’s not enjoying this just as much as we are.
He was hesitant about letting us all be present, but caved at the last second. Asi’s been having most of the fun, per usual, with Mammon asking the questions and Asi doling out the punishments when he doesn’t like the answer. Levi’s acting like a mad dog in the corner, literally barking, while Luc keeps him in check.
While Gore and I are having a good time watching the free show, we’re bored . We want to dip our toes in the bloody pool, but Mammon’s being stubborn about letting Asi do all the dirty work and it’s starting to hurt my feelings.
Asi gets Man Number Four into place, ripping the sack off his head once Levi has him secured. Even though the man hangs his head down, I already can sense that something’s different with this one. It’s not that he looks familiar or anything but, unlike the rest of them, he’s not a sniveling mess who’s shitting himself in front of us. I wouldn’t use the word calm to describe him, but he certainly doesn’t look terrified.
I throw my head back with a cackle that earns me a giggle from Gore. Oh, this man’s in for a rude awakening.
“You’re probably wondering why you’re here.” Mammon stands regally in front of the man, ever the intimidating king he is. “It’s simple, really. You have information we want. Give it to us and this will be a quick and easy death.”
“Awww, come on,” Gore whines next to me, swinging his legs back and forth from his place on the metal table. “That’s no fun.”
“It’s a mercy he doesn’t deserve,” Luc adds in a timid voice, but nothing can disguise the twisted desire in his eyes to see bloodshed. He’s just like us, no matter how innocent he tries to appear.
“Let me at him,” I beg, jumping off the table and clasping my hands together. “Please, please, please , Daddy.”
“Silence, Beelzebub,” Mammon snaps, irritation prevalent in his voice. “Behave yourself or go home.”
Pouting, I sulk back to Gore, who reaches his hand out to me. I swear, people are always trying to ruin my fun. Mammon, in particular, who’s been moody as shit these last few days.
I thought that after fucking us raw and letting us cuddle with him all night, things would be different, but they’re not. He’s been holed up in his office for days, barely talking to anybody, and completely ignoring us. There’s always an excuse when Gore and I try to spend time with him, always a reason we can’t sleep in the same bed as him, and it’s pissing me off that he’s keeping us at arm’s length.
But I’m trying to keep my cool here. Gore’s reminded me that Mammon has a lot on his plate, and I need to be understanding of that, but fuck, it’s hard. I’m not patient and I’m not reserved; holding back has been killing me.
Mammon clears his throat, obviously annoyed at my interruption, before continuing. “My brother tells me that you have information on this so-called rebellion that’s been growing on my island.”
The man raises his head and I finally see the extent of the damage Asi and Levi inflicted on him before bringing him here. It's a thing of beauty. His nose is crooked and pointing in the wrong direction. When he opens his mouth to gasp for a breath, I see one of his front teeth is missing. There’s a mixture of dried and wet blood on his chin and one of his eyes is completely red. When he speaks, his voice is hoarse, as if he’s been choked recently, and it’s music to my ears.
Awesome.
“It’s not your island,” the man mutters. Staring daggers at Mammon, almost challenging him. It makes me giddy to see how Daddy will respond.
Mammon chuckles darkly, shrugging as he holds his palms face up. He closes in on the man, confident and cocky, and Jesus Christ , my dick responds. “All of this is mine. You and your associates just haven’t caught on yet.”
The man shakes his head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Mammon studies him for a minute and then clicks his tongue. “Asmodeus.”
Asi steps up with a knife, pressing it against the man’s pinkie finger, and bringing it down swiftly and efficiently. The man screams in agony, blood gushing from his missing tip and I wiggle in my seat. Fuck, I should have gotten some popcorn for this.
“I think you know exactly what I’m talking about,” Mammon says as he crosses his arms over his chest. “How many of you are there?”
“Fuck off— Ahhhh !”
The man doesn’t have time to finish his sentence when Asi’s already bringing the knife down on another finger.
“Where’s your location?” Mammon asks, opting for a different question as he slaps the man’s cheek. “Focus. This really could be a lot easier than you’re making it out to be. I see you want this to be difficult.”
But the man keeps his mouth shut. I have to say, I respect him for that. It’s not easy to maintain secrecy while losing a few limbs here and there, especially when Asi brings out the hot poker. It’s one of my favorites. He lights it up, taking his time getting the spike all pretty and bright before digging it into the top of the man’s thigh by his groin. The sweet smell of burning flesh fills the air and I groan, palming my crotch as Gore’s breath hitches.
We’re totally fucking after this.
Once Asi’s made the man nice and roasted, Mammon huffs. “Have you had enough yet?”
“I’m not telling you shit,” he snaps, although his voice isn’t as brave and courageous as his words. He’s in pain, crying at the beautiful sensations Asi’s gifting him with.
“You’d rather die in pain when all of this can be wiped away with one quick stroke of a knife?” Mammon shakes his head in what I assume is fake disbelief. “Especially when it’s all for nothing.”
“It’s not all for nothing!” the man cries, finding his strength yet again. Sweat and blood dot his paling face. He stumbles through his words, but his determination and resistance stand strong. It’s almost like watching one of those sports movies with the rousing pep talks. “We stand for something that you’ll never understand: Goodness. We don’t bow to tyrants and madmen. You all are fucking psychos and in the end, the good guys will always win.”
Levi laughs as Asi snorts. “Good guys? What kind of shit is that?”
Even Mammon chuckles. He crouches down, leveling with the man and tipping his chin up so he can see him clearly. “There’s no such thing as good guys in this world. All the good, all the honor, they belong to me now. Everything you think you’re fighting for is a lie. Monsters are real and they’re worse than anything your nightmares could imagine.”
“The monsters never win,” the man grits out, but anyone can see the losing battle in his eyes.
“They do now.” Mammon stands and wipes his bloody hands on a towel Luc hands him. He turns to walk to the door, tossing a comment casually over his shoulder. “Alright, boys. Go have your fun.”
“Finally!” I shout, hopping off the table and dragging Gore with me. I turn to him with a skip in my step. “What should we do first?”
“Up to you,” Gore says as he eyes all the fun toys in the corner of the room. “Maybe we can get creative this time?”
“Luc…” Levi mumbles, his neck already straining with the effort it’s taking to keep the hellhound at bay.
Smiling softly, Luc pets Levi’s scarred arm. “Let them go first. You know I…”
“Yes, we know it’s death that gets you off,” I say with a roll of my eyes as I approach the trembling man. “Just promise we can watch this time?”
Asi has a devious gleam in his eyes. All his apathy thrown out the window at the scent of madness. “Ready?”
We all nod, going to the corner of the room to grab our respective weapons. The whip looks like fun today, so I take that. Turning to the man, each of us slinks toward him in unison, like a pack of wolves ready for the slaughter.
His eyes widen, true fear shining in them, and?—
“No! Please! No!
Freshly showered, I tug Gore with me toward Mammon’s office. After a nice, long fuck in some scalding water, I’m ready to claim my real reward for the awesomeness I unleashed on that man. Jesus, he looked like shredded meat by the time we were all done with him. I can’t wait to describe it in all its beautiful detail to Mammon. I hope he’ll be proud of just how good we all were.
Gore’s hesitant, however. He fights me as I pull him down the hallway. “I don’t know about this. Maybe we should give him some space?”
“All we’ve given him is space,” I argue, stopping right in front of the office door. “Don’t you want to see him too?”
I know Gore better than I know myself, so the answer is already obvious. He’s dying for Mammon’s attention, eager to please him, and going crazy without him. He feels this pull too—both of us do—that Mammon is just destined to be ours. So what that he’s being a little moody and distant? We’re the cure for that. Everything he is was meant for us, just like we were meant for him.
Gore nibbles on his bottom lip. “If you think it’s a good idea.”
“I know it is,” I insist, kissing his cheek quickly. “No matter what he’s feeling, we’ll be there for him.”
Gore hesitates yet again as he looks at the door, then ends up nodding just like I knew he would. He knocks, but I think we’re way past the point of common decency here. I barge into the office with Gore in tow, marching straight to Mammon’s desk. Like he has been for weeks now, he’s hunched over and studying a bunch of papers, one in particular being the poster of the wolf. He’s just staring at it, almost mesmerized, and now I’m certain it was a great idea to come in here.
“Hey,” Gore starts timidly, playing with his fingers as he weaves his way around the desk. “Mammon?”
Mammon doesn’t look up, attention locked on the poster. “Go away.”
Gore winces and throws me a worried look, but I shake my head. I urge him with my hands to continue, and he gulps before he does. “Um, we just wanted to check in on you and see how you’re feeling about all of this.”
“I don’t want to talk,” he grits out, still not looking at us. “Leave.”
This should be the moment when I back off. Gore might have had a point but—fuck it—Mammon just needs to be pushed a bit, that’s all. We pushed before and it worked. This time isn’t any different.
“You know we could actually help if you just let us in a little bit,” I say, smacking my palms against his desk. “You don’t have to do this all on your own.”
His head snaps up at lightning speed. His eyes—a beautiful boyish blue—are filled with nothing but venom as he glares at me. “You don’t think I can handle this?”
Gore can sense the shift in the air, that eerie stillness that brings nothing but trouble. He gulps, shaking his head. “That’s not what he meant.”
“That’s exactly what he said,” Mammon says slowly, rising out of his seat, eyes still trained on me. “Do you think it’s your place to tell me what I can and can’t do? I’m not indentured to either of you. Just because I’ve fucked you doesn’t mean I’m under your control.”
Yeah, okay, so that stings a little. Gore flinches, but I try to remain unaffected. If he sees me sweat, he’ll start to freak out, and he’s a crier. The last thing I want is for him to burst into tears because I may have miscalculated a bit. “That’s not what I’m saying?—”
“I don’t need either of you!” Mammon yells, swiping the contents of his desk, sending everything flying and tumbling to the floor. “How can I make that crystal clear? I don’t need anything from anyone! I have this handled! What I need is some. Fucking. Space!”
Silence descends upon us at his outburst, shocking both Gore and I. Mammon isn’t like this… I mean, we all have that darkness inside of us that festers and rots around our souls, but he’s always been the best at keeping his in check. Right now, he’s bordering on feral. And not in the sexy way that gets my dick hard.
He actually looks unhinged. There’s a mad gleam in his eyes that grows brighter and brighter with every second I stand before him. It’s making me… Fuck. I’m nervous. I don’t get nervous around Mammon. I never have and I never thought I would, but he’s like a loose cannon ready to launch at whatever unsuspecting passersby that happen to cross his path.
“Maybe…” Gore’s whisper is barely heard as he slowly inches away from Mammon and toward me. “Maybe we should go?”
Mammon blinks. Once, twice, and on the third time, the darkness is gone. In its place is a confusion of sorts, almost like he was lost in a fog and finally found his way out. He glances at all the papers on the ground, the broken paperweight, and shakes his head. “I… fuck. It’s just…” He pinches the bridge of his nose, cursing to himself yet again, before slumping back in his seat. “Go.”
Nodding, I take Gore’s hand and can’t help but get one last question out. I hate that I feel so…vulnerable. Scared and timid, not the warrior and protector Gore needs. “Can we see you later?”
Mammon sighs deeply as he drops his head. “It’s better if you don’t.”
Gore’s the one who tugs me out of the room. We make it out into the hallway in a rush and he nearly slams the door shut in his attempt to escape. Once I’m away from the suffocating air that was penetrating me in there, I can finally breathe again and I’m stunned. “What the fuck was that?”
Gore shakes his head, tears in his eyes. “You’re pushing too much, Bel.”
Maybe I’m— No. Absolutely not. I stand firm in my resolve that Mammon needs us. I steel myself, balling my hands into fists. “I don’t think I’m pushing enough. He needs to see that we can help him. That we’re not just…”
“Crazy?”
“To start, yeah.” I snap my fingers when an idea comes to me. It’s out of the blue and maybe a touch outlandish, but it just might work. “Look, all we have to do is prove ourselves to him. Show him we can handle the big stuff.”
Gore cocks his head to the side, wrinkling his cute button nose in confusion. “And how are we going to do that?”
“We’ll wait until the opportunity presents itself and show him just how reliable we can be.” I shake him, too excited by my plan to stand still. “Does that sound like it could work?”
Gore worries the inside of his cheek as he thinks it through. Ultimately, like he always does, he goes along with what I say. His blind loyalty is something I hope I deserve when his face splits into a smile and he beams at me. “Yeah. It does.”
However, there’s something in his voice that makes me pause. “But…”
He sighs, thumping his head against the wall as he frowns. “I just want to fall asleep in his arms.”
The three of us. Together. Wrapped in each other’s arms. We don’t even have to be fucking. Maybe we could just be staring deep into the other’s souls, wondering why there was ever a time when it wasn’t us .
“I know, baby,” I coo, bringing him into my arms and praying I can make his dream come true. “Me too.”