Natale narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms before sinking back against the wall. "I'd like to watch, if you don't mind."
I shrugged my shoulders. "If you have nothing else to do."
From the look on his face, I was pretty sure Natale had a lot of other things to do, but for some reason he felt he had to keep me company. Well, as long as he didn't regret that later.
I made an inviting gesture with my hand. "Let's get down to business then... Do you want to join in, perhaps?"
Natale shook his head, lips pursed. "I'm doing just fine over here, don't worry."
I nodded, brushed a strand of my hair off my forehead and got down on my knees to be closer to the guy, who hadn't moved in the last few seconds. I fervently hoped that he hadn't kicked the bucket. That would not only be extremely unfortunate but also pretty bad for my mood.
"I don't know your name or what you've done, but I don't care anyway. You're here for a reason, and you won't get out of here alive. The only question is, how much more torture can you take before your lights go out?" I looked into the man's swollen face. I didn't expect an answer, so it did not disappoint me when he made a miserable squeak that resembled a piglet.
With both hands I grabbed his ears and pulled on them until I heard the first cracking sound. At first, this was only the cartilage that had been freed from its burden, but if I continued to pull on it
While I did just that, a stale taste spread in my mouth. It wasn't that much fun, and the fiery motivation that normally burned in my veins was nowhere to be found.
With a sigh, I picked up my knife again and raised it to my victim's right ear. Should I just cut off his ear? Or pierce his eardrum with the tip? Which would cause him more pain? And, vice versa, me more fun?
Almost bored, I cut off his right ear and destroy the eardrum in the left. So at least I could see the reactions to both– screaming, agonized moaning, a little squirming. Nothing special. Nothing that made my blood boil.
Just a while ago, I couldn't wait to take my temper out on the guy. But now, I wondered if it was genuine enough.
"How long are you going to watch him bleed from his ears?" Natale asked, but did not move to stop the bleeding either.
Something told me he wasn't interested in the torture and had stayed for another reason.
"As long as it suits me," I growled, continuing to stare at the guy. Maybe I should get on with ridding him of his eyesight? However, it was difficult to get to the eyeballs with the swelling of his face. He didn't need his nose anymore either actually, he needed nothing from his earthly body. After all, he would die in the next few hours.
I wrinkled my nose, thinking of the woman I had freed of her organs last year. Her heart had still been beating when I had carved it out.
This was the rush I expected when I came here. Instead, I couldn't even find the entry point. To feel a living heart pulsing in my hand, to feel the blood pumping through it, keeping the body alive....
I tore open the guy's filthy top to expose his chest. His heart was still beating. However, neither with the normal force nor at regular intervals. Sighing, I rolled my eyes. By the time I cut his skin, broke the bones, and got to his heart, he would probably be dead anyway.
If I went through the abdomen, the hustle was much too big. Besides, I ran the risk of hurting his intestines or stomach, and I didn't want the stench. Not to mention that he would be dead before I even got near his heart.
With another sigh, I rose and looked at Natale. "Somehow I had imagined it differently."
"Don't tell me that guy's too lifeless for you."
"Yes, he is, that's what it is. Just look at him!" I pointed at him. He looked more dead than alive and that had been the case when I had dragged him from his corner to the center of the room. "He's barely breathing, his reactions are almost boring, and he'll be dead before I can do anything real with him."
"Wow. You being unhappy? That's a new one."
With a growl, I mimicked him. I had wanted to drag this torture out for hours, not be rewarded with a dead man within minutes.
Before I let my tongue run away with me, I wiped my knife on my victim's pants and put it away again. I could watch the pig on the floor die even standing upright.
"Didn't know we had such high standards for our prisoners lately," Natale continued.
I just stared at him. After all, it was he who had given me a taste for it, and thus back on the track. Before I had taken a liking to torturing our enemies, I had often been on the road at breakneck speed. Not only in terms of my driving style but also regarding the people I got involved with.
Natale had steered everything back on track, and now he wanted to regret that of all things? No, I would not let him get away with that.
"I don't know what's wrong with you, but I have a right to make these men suffer," I retorted, giving the man at my feet a last kick that would catapult him across the bridge into the afterlife.
Instead, he gasped miserably.