3 Chapter 3 Personal hell

The chubby was continuing to do his best to break him. He had to admit that he knew what he was doing. He was an expert in torture. And he chuckled. But not as good as he used to be. That didn't mean it didn't hurt. It hurt like hell, but he endured through it all so far. And those chains were so tight around him that he couldn't move, making him hate his own inability to at least fight back. 

First there was the old-fashioned needles under his nails that were previously taken red-hot from a fire that he had no idea how it appeared beside his chair. Then, the nails were slowly removed with the help of those needles, making him squirm in his seat while the chains grew tighter around him, expelling the air from his lungs and making it difficult to breathe in, almost making him suffocate. But he still didn't scream. Not yet. He knew it was only the beginning, so he didn't want to waste his breath on something so useless. What would be the benefits of him screaming? None. It was only a waste of precious air right now. And probably to satisfy the one in front of him. 

So he simply shut down his body and allowed the pain to simply go wherever it wanted. He didn't care about it. He didn't feel the pain. It wasn't pain. Everything will get better at a later time. Fuck! Who was he kidding? It hurt. And a lot. Fuck this chubby's mother! Why did he have to know so many ways to inflict pain? 

He felt his whole body was in pain, even though it was only his hands affected at the moment. He looked fascinated as the chubby took a small scalpel and started an incision at the tip of his fingers. Fuck, he was good. His hands were trembling from the pain but the chubby wasn't deterred. He followed his hand's trembling movements and did not make a single pause even after finishing the incisions. 

Then he took another smaller knife in the shape of a cutter. Then he inserted the tip into the sliced fingertips and started to work on the next step. Fuck his mother, grandmother and all the ancestral female line all the way back to the beginning! 

His mind started to get numb at the continuous sensation of pain and he felt like his body would start to shut down. His brain was just mush at this point while he tried to stop himself from any external show of suffering. He felt himself getting dizzy as his mind grew fuzzy as time went by. 

He clenched his teeth trying to suppress the groan of pain when he realized the state of his body at the moment. His fingers were devoid of skin, in fact they were bare bones covered in blood. The same went for his hands up to his wrists. He had to admit, it was a neat tandem job, both hands kept in equilibrium. It looked pleasing esthetically in a morbid, twisted way. He shook his head in an attempt to clear his mind. 

The chubby stood straight up and stretched out, moving his shoulders in an attempt to relieve the pain in his back gathered while being bent over all this time. He had a smile full of pride on his face for a job that started going well. 

"Hehe! What do you think now? Still arrogant in front of me? Any thoughts about this new work of art that I intend to carve on your body?" 

He shook his head while staring the chubby in the face. He kept his silence, but inside he was starting to get a little bit pissed off by his arrogance. And he was calling him arrogant? He squirmed in the chair and pulled at the chains binding him, trying to see if he could get them loose. No such luck!

"Oh! Are you getting bored already? Or do you have to go pee? If it's the latter, then I'm sorry to inform you that you're in trouble. This is a special place after all. It has many names, one of the most popular of which is hell. So I don't know how much of that book of yours called Bible you've read, but there is stated clearly that there is no relief whatsoever over here. So I don't know how you managed to get past the others before me if you can't even get over this little bit of discomfort!"

He finally couldn't take it anymore. The pain was gone. Anything else disappeared from his mind except the boiling rage as he felt his head starting to throb while the veins on his forehead and neck started to inflate. He just lost control over himself and a roar exploded from the depth of his chest. A rain of curses and invectives poured out his mouth while the chair started creaking under him while the chains binding him grew even more taut by the moment as he struggled to stand up and just reach the person in front of him and just tear him apart with his bare hands. Any thoughts or reasoning left him and the pain just didn't register anymore. 

"Motherfucking son of a bitch, just wait for me to get out of this seat and I'll kick your ass so hard that my toes will reach so far up your ass that they'll tickle your tonsils, helping them retaste the food you ate three days ago!" 

The chubby just stared at him struggling and a smug smile appeared on his face. There was no chance of him taking his words seriously, but he was impressed by the inventiveness of his threats. It appears that the first step was achieved by the erratic way of his behavior. He didn't know what made him react like this, but it didn't matter at the moment as long as his mental state was thrown off-balance. It meant his mind was defenseless and ready to be further exploited and explored. 

He didn't even realize while he struggled in the chair that the pillar to the side was starting to flicker in red light and something like a snake slowly came out of it. He didn't feel it approaching him and he didn't feel the sting at the back of his head. He just froze his furious eyes still staring at the chubby man in front of him, but his mind went blank for a moment. And he felt tired and the eyelids were so heavy. He struggled to resist this sensation, but it appeared to be an impossible task. He finally couldn't fight it and succumbed to what was happening to him. He felt like he was walking through a quagmire as his mind started to shut down. 

A shadow condensed in front of the chubby man and as soon as it appeared, the shadow bowed in respect. The chubby man nodded in acknowledgement and its eyes turned to the slumped body in the chair. 

"How did you do it? How did you manage to trigger him so much in such a short time? He was a tough man in front of the others and he just broke in front of you."

The chubby man just shrugged. 

"I don't know myself what it was from my words that made him so crazy. For a while I even thought that he would shatter the chair even if it meant he was shattering his soul in the process just to reach me. But I don't think it matters at the moment. I think last times he lost his vitality too fast and that's why we didn't manage to get him to remember what he went through before he came here. Fortunately we got lucky today. It was his last chance, otherwise he would be sucked out of here and move back in the circle of life. It would be a pity to lose such a talent that could cause so much mayhem without him remembering his past trail when he returned to life. I can hardly wait to see how much of the past he could retain when he reaches the end of the path."

He shook his head as his eyes rested on the wounds that were starting to recover at a visible speed. 

......

 He was in the living room watching Tv with his father, while his mother was in the kitchen preparing dinner. The sun began to slowly fall beyond the horizon, leaving behind the sky red. Vlad, bored by the program shown on Tv, rose from his seat and went towards his room to get his knife out and play with it. It was a gift from his father when he reached his twelfth birthday. He liked it very much. It was a very sharp blade, but what attracted him the most was the carved bone handle. It was carved laboriously to make it look like a dragon eating it's own tail. Since he got it, he couldn't take his mind from it. He hid the knife from everyone in his family and played with it only when he could get away with it without getting caught. He's almost reached the door to his room when he heard the doorbell ringing. Surprised, he looked at the clock on the wall in the hallway, wondering who could be visiting them so late in the day. It was just past seven o'clock and the night started creeping outside. He walked to the door and stood up on tiptoes trying to look out through the peephole. But he couldn't see anybody. At this moment the doorbell rang once again. He opened the door to see who could be. At the door was a familiar face. There stood a young man, that seemed to be maybe 23-24. Holding a hand on the doorbell, while the other was at the back. 

"Vlad, how are you, my boy? Are your parents home?" 

"Hi Sebastian. I'm fine, thanks. Yes, they are. Dad is watching tv and mom is making dinner in the kitchen. Why?" 

"First, can I come inside? It's kind of chilly out here. I promise it will not take long" the young man smiled enticingly at him. 

Vlad was about to say yes, but he didn't know why he hesitated. He found that smile repulsive. His hand unconsciously slid towards the back of his pants, where he tucked the knife when he hid it from his parents eyes. The knife seemed to vibrate when he touched it. 

"Who is at the door, Vlad?" his father's voice made Vlad jump. 

"It's me, mister Basarab" said the young man, his smile growing even more. 

"Sebastian? What are you doing here at this hour? Come in, don't just stand there." 

Sebastian looked at Vlad as he slowly lifted his right leg and took a step. The air seemed to fluctuate when he walked over the threshold and small crackles could be heard. His smile grew to a grin and, with a shove, he sent Vlad flying across the hallway. Vlad heard his father's shout as he hit the wall. He crashed into the wall and the air was knocked out of him. He tried getting back up while holding the knife. His eyes opened wide as he saw the blade of the knife starting to glow red, while Sebastian simply flew by him towards his father who barely managed to stand from his seat. Then, sounds of broken twigs followed by howls of pain from his dad sounded throughout the house. His mom came from the kitchen and was looking at his dad being torn to pieces with his bare hands by a boy half his age. With a scream she started hitting Sebastian with the pan in her hands, but with little effect, because the young man continued his work as if nothing happened. 

Slowly rising on his feet, Vlad swayed slightly back and forth. Rising his head, he suddenly stopped any movement as he felt the handle of the knife burning in his hand. Through that burn, seemed to fade away any worry, any pain he had before. All that was left was the unbearable hunger surging through his body.

He felt he didn't feel this hungry ever. 

He suddenly felt his body moving on it's own. It was as if his will has melted away. Grasping the knife tighter he took several steps towards the massacre that took place in the living room, while inarticulate growling that seemed to come from his own mouth sounded suddenly. 

A red mist surrounded his vision and he lunged forward. Sebastian was busy butchering away at his father, unperturbed by anything that was around him. His mother still continued bashing him with the pan, which now lost it's initial form being just a piece of scrapped metal. When the knife entered in the middle of Sebastian's back with a crunching sound when it hit some rib, he let out a howl of pain and fury and turned quickly on his heels and with a hiss tried to get to the knife embedded in his back. Vlad was tossed around by his movements while still holding to the knife. Vlad felt something weird. The longer he hold to the knife embedded there, the hunger and the burning sensations he felt before seemed to go away. In fact, he began feeling better than before. With a sudden pull, the knife came free. The knife began humming, vibrating in his hand as if it was a living creature. 

"You little bastard, what the hell is that?" growled Sebastian looking wide-eyed at the knife that slowly changed color in Vlad's hand. 

"It seems to like you" Vlad smiled creepily. "Will you play more with it? Just for a little bit of warmth, please. It's feeling cold. Can it go back in? Trust me, it will not take long. I promise!"

Sebastian looked at him perplexed. Those were almost the same words he said earlier but twisted for another reason. Lunging forward trying to grab the knife, he felt something wrong. He was sent to take care of the father, yet now he felt threatened by a ten year-old holding a weird-glowing knife. Taking the initiative seemed to be the best option. 

But now, when his palms tried to grab the knife, a cold wind blew to the side of his body and while his fingers grabbed at the empty air in front of him he heard a voice beside his left ear whispering. 

"I told you it would not take long. I lied. It will take a very long time." 

A flash of silver light caught with the corner of his eyes flew towards his head. Sebastian took a step back and put a hand in front of him, trying to block it. But all he could do was watch as his wrist got chopped almost completely off while Vlad's smiling face appeared in front of his eyes. He tried taking a step back, but Vlad disappeared again and Sebastian felt a burning sensation in his left leg, right behind his knee from side to side. Then he felt his foot grow numb and he stumbled losing his balance and fell on his back. He looked in horror at his stumped left leg that ended just below his knee spewing blood. 

"Eh, could you keep your blood inside your body? I only chopped your foot and leg a little and you're already losing so much of it. How could we play more as you played with dad if you lose too much of it? Hmm. I think you look a little imbalanced now. We have to fix it." 

After a few seconds of silence, Vlad appeared beside him and took his wounded hand in his left hand while starting to slice with the knife. At the howl of pain he calmly said. 

"Shhh. Stop that. You don't need it anymore anyway." 

After a few more slicing motions, the hand came free, while Sebastian was writhing on the floor, his screams becoming less powerful. Vlad turned his eyes to the leg he severed a little earlier and the smile creeped back on his face. 

"And what do we have here? No more blood? Healed already? It seems I worried too much for nothing for having too little time to play with you."

Indeed now the blood spilling from Sebastian's leg had stopped and the stump was covered in new pink skin layer. 

"Sebastian, let's go and play some more and have a talk. We will have all the time in the world. Don't worry, nobody will come and ruin our fun. Here, let me give you a hand." 

Tossing the severed hand back to Sebastian, Vlad stood back up. Turning his eyes to his mom who was cradling his father's mangled body in her arms, he shook his head staring for a moment. Her mind was broken. He could see it in the blank stare of her eyes. 

Turning back to Sebastian who looked at him with horror, he smiled while grabbing his still intact leg starting dragging him towards the door while Sebastian kept wriggling his body trying to escape his grip. Passing over the threshold, Sebastian's head got knocked on the bump in the floor. 

He called the emergency and explained what happened. Of course, he lied about a couple of things. He might have said there were more than one attacker. One was wounded, but the others took him away and he didn't know who they were and why they attacked. Of course he did not lie about the fact that he had no idea why they were attacked. But for him the reason why didn't matter. It only mattered that it happened. 

He felt something snap inside himself. He was all alone now in the world. He had nobody to rely on, nobody to talk to about what happened. Who would believe him. He sneered as he nodded at the police officer in front of him who acted as if he cared about what happened here. At the moment, all he cared about was to get rid of every stranger shuffling through his house and get back to what he truly wanted to do.

Finally, after the police and the ambulance left with dad's body and his mom in a straight jacket. 

 Finally, the house emptied and silence reigned once again. He stood in the living room, just staring at the patches of blood covered in rags. Then he slowly walked towards the door. 

Outside, the moon was shining brightly, while from the back of the house, where a slightly open door let escape screams of pain accompanied by a childish laughter. But the laughter was no more that one of an innocent child. There was no more happiness, no more joy, only bloodlust. 

Vlad gave a slight pat on the gagged Sebastian's head. Sebastian's clothes were gone while his body was entirely covered in blood. The remaining hand had the nails pulled out, the groin was no more and scraps of skin hung on his body revealing bloody bones underneath. While scraping his hands on a piece of bloody cloth Vlad smiled. 

"We'll continue tonight. I need to prepare for school now. I'll see you later!" 

Leaving Sebastian, he began thinking about what awaited him in the future. It appears that it would be a lonely one.