32.
“Y ou can’t seriously mean to d–”
“I’m sorry, is that bullshit coming out of your mouth right now?” I cut him off. “Fred, stuff has just gotten serious, so try not to interrupt my flow, will you?” I meet Magner’s eyes, then jerk my head in Fred’s direction.
He grins and walks over to us, immediately getting to work on my victim. He deftly grabs both of Fred’s wrists and aligns them against each other, ignoring the asshole’s futile struggles. He then places Fred’s joined hands under his right knee, making sure to push down on them for better security.
Fred grunts as he twists this way and that, but it’s of no use, obviously.
“You don’t have to do this, Dorian,” Heyman all but pleas. “We can settle this in a civilized way, can we not? Surely there’s a price for your generosity, and Fred would be more than happy to pay it.”
Fred lets out a broken cry as he starts nodding his head at me, but I roll my eyes and look at Heyman.
“First of all, it’s Dorran , not Dorian,” I say, then stretch my neck sideways and pull the cigarette out of my mouth, exhaling a distorted puff of smoke.
“And second of all, nutsack, I don’t take offers from those who’ve hurt my family, least of all from scumbags like him.
” I point a finger at a sobbing Fred. “So please, Heyman , keep your dick, and your stupid offer in your ill-fitted pants, because I ain’t interested – at all.
” Leaving a dumbfounded Heyman staring at me, I face Magner again. “Get that jaw open for me.”
Fred lets out an indescribable sound – somewhere between a scream and a whimper. “Stop this madness! I beg yo–”
Magner reaches forward and casually pushes the fingers of not one but both his hands inside Fred’s mouth. He then stretches it wide from either direction, baring Fred open for me.
Fred thrashes some more, perhaps only now grasping the full extent of his fate. Not that it matters, though. One way or another, this was meant to happen. For all the crap he’s pulled and all the deeds he’s done, this is the least of his penance for them.
“This is going to be so much fun,” Alex muses, to which Varsha says, “I just wanna hear him suffer, y’know? I’m going to enjoy the fuck out of it.”
Solo sighs. “Sometimes I wonder how exactly it is that I got stuck with you kids. But then I think about all the things I’ve done in my lifetime, and convince myself that I’ve perhaps received the better end of the stick. In more ways than one, I suppose.”
“You’re a lucky bastard, that’s for sure,” Aras adds. “I wouldn’t trade your crew for anything, unique as they are.”
“We are irreplaceable, thank you very much,” Alex jabs.
“I second that,” says Varsha.
“Fuck my life,” Solo mutters, sighing again.
Smiling at their conversation, I get on my knees, with Fred still between them, then lean in as if to assess his tongue.
“I’m surprised there aren’t any molds on them,” I tell him.
“Given all the garbage you spew every time you speak, I was hoping to see at least a little bit of decay. You, sir, have crushed my expectations.”
I hear a soft chuckle from my left, and when I look her way, Safiya mouths, “ This is amazing ,” to me, making me laugh.
“You are deranged!” Heyman yells. “Fucking demented!”
“You really know how to be nasty, don’t you?” I exhale a soft cloud of smoke from between my lips. “It’s too bad you don’t have the kind of throat I’d like to slide my cum down through.” I give Cigs a wink, who smiles and shakes her head at me.
“I think he’s trying to bite me,” Magner says, then bursts into a sudden bout of laughter. “Gotta say: dude’s at least trying to fight for his life.”
I glance at Fred, and scoff when I see him circling his tongue around his mouth as if he can hide it.
With a smirk, I grab said tongue and bring my switchblade forward, wiggling it in front of him.
“I whetted it this morning, so it shouldn’t take too long,” I provide, and with Fred’s screams piercing my ears, I finally touch my blade to his tongue.
Soft flesh breaks fluently under my sharpened weapon, resulting in a spray of red-hot blood to spurt from Fred’s mouth as he thrashes and continues to cry under me.
The blood stains Magner and I’s hands, and as its stench hits my nose, mixing in with the smell of nicotine from my cigarette, I suppress a groan of fucking ecstasy.
This combo right here – it’s an effervescent drug for someone like me.
I thrive off this shit; I revel in its presence.
Magner lets go of a now-silent Fred and heads back over to Aras. Fred’s chest rises and falls at a heavy rhythm, with thin streams of blood dripping down the sides of his slightly parted mouth.
I look down at the tongue in my hand – wet and flaccid – then toss it forward. With a soft thud, it lands exactly where I wanted it to: directly in front of Cignette’s feet.
“As you’d commanded,” I say to her.
She grins at me. “I fucking love you.”
I chuckle. “Trust me, sweetheart, the feeling is very much mutual.”
“Monsters…” I hear Heyman whisper. “You are all monsters …”
I groan. “Could you stop whining? You’re lucky I don’t have you lying next to your boss right now, alright? So just stop testing my goddamn patience, Heyman.”
He thankfully shuts up, and the silence that comes with it is highly appreciated.
A strong gust of icy wind blows over me as I inhale one final drag from my cigarette, releasing the smoke into the air.
Taking the cigarette off my lips and holding it between my forefinger and thumb, I roll it, watching as its ashes fall on Fred’s white shirt.
And then, because I’m a menace, I bring the burning edge of the cigarette to Fred’s right cheek.
His eyes dart around frantically as his breathing turns erratic. He tries to move away, but his sprained neck prevents him from doing anything extensive.
“This might hurt,” I tell Fred, then press the cigarette’s butt into his skin.
His mouth opens in a raspy cry as his skin sizzles, and grows louder when I pluck the cigarette off the small, melting circle of flesh just above his jaw.
“Interesting,” Magner comments, just as I toss the dwindled cigarette over my shoulder.
I sniff, then pat Fred’s chest before leaning back on my heels. “Alright, buddy, I’m bored.” I yawn behind a fist and arch my back to get some of the tension off it. “And very, very tired. Unfortunately for us, playtime’s over, so you gotta go now. For good, of course.”
To my right, someone stirs. “But all you wanted was his tongue, and now you have it. Why are you doi–”
“Ah, yes, Heyman, do speak; take away the twelve seconds of silence you were kind enough to offer me.” I lazily roll my head in his direction.
“What do you take me for, an artifact collector? I don’t just cut off body parts as trophies and let a person go their merry way.
I finish the motherfucking job because loose ends and I don’t go well together.
” With that, I face Fred again, flipping my switchblade to hold it upside down.
A smile curves my lips as I raise my right arm, then stab the already tainted blade into the middle of his chest.
Fred’s body lifts off the ground at the impact, right before a warm stream of blood caresses my fingers and seeps into his sweaty shirt.
He makes a choking sound, which would have been a peaceful melody to listen to, were it not for Heyman, who starts screaming obscenities at me the second my switchblade makes a beautiful dent in Fred’s chest cavity.
“You heartless, ruthless motherfucking scum! Fredrick will be avenged. I swear to you that you will suffer; I will make sure he comes to the Byrons’ aid. He will desecrate you, Dorran Ledger! You will be finished!”
I groan and face the bald banshee. “My God , Heyman, shut the fuck up , will you?” Spitting on the ground in front of him, I sneer his way, then tilt my head when he makes to start talking again.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Varsha warns him on my behalf.
“He’s in the zone right now, and the last thing he needs is to gut an oinking pig while he still has work to do.
So, Heyman, kindly be a dear and wait your turn, will you?
I promise Ledge will scratch any itch you might have. He’s a giver, after all.”
I chuckle. “Yeah, yeah; go ahead and reveal all my secrets to the world, why don’t you.”
She grins at me. “I’m supposed to hype you up, okay? That’s what siblings do for each other.”
I smile and shake my head at her, then glance at a twitching Fred under me and sigh.
“Heyman ruined the fun for me,” I tell him, then sniff and stretch my neck side to side.
“Well, I gotta make this interesting somehow, don’t I?
Good thing I’m very skilled at what I do.
” With a smirk that comes naturally to me, I tighten my hold on the switchblade’s handle and start pushing it vertically down Fred’s soaking-red body.
He starts trembling below me, all the while gurgling blood as his pliant flesh surrenders to me, leaving the head of the Byron family bared for my viewing.
It’s everywhere, his blood. So much of it. It’s beautiful – like a boundless symphony pouring out in abundance, simply to satiate my mad desire of wanting to watch this man meet his rightful end.
The smell of it – it’s all-encompassing. The taste of it – I can all but feel it settling on my tongue. This is bliss; this is fucking euphoria.
I pull my weapon out when it touches Fred’s navel, then bring it up so that I can examine it. Decorated in crimson, my switchblade looks otherworldly. The serpents on the handle are bathed in blood, which puts a smile on my face because after quite a long time, I finally get to say…