Page 1 of The Rise

Chapter 1

Hunter

Hell is a dark place to be. There are days when you wonder if you’ll ever see the light. Other days? You don’t want to leave the warm embrace of darkness.

In my life, I’ve seen it all. Dark, light, and the grey in between. There are times when I don’t know where I belong or which side I should run to. Maybe I’m right to stay in the dark. That’s where my demons lurk, and they are always welcoming. They never turn me away.

I stand in the dark corner of the room where they can’t see me, waiting to pounce. My mind wanders to places it shouldn’t go. Or maybe it should. It is what I do, after all. When I was crowned a God at the age of fifteen, my life changed forever. I was groomed to be this. I was made to enjoy killing and torturing people. I can’t change that now, nor would I want to. You might think I’m insane for liking the kill, but I’m not. At least, I don’t think I am.

My purpose here is to end the lives of those who steal it from others. Shouldn’t that count for something in God’s book? Even though the bible teaches us killing is a sin, I find great joy in it.

Like now, as I stalk my prey, watching them as they hang helplessly. I wonder how they feel? What’s going on in their heads right now? Do they know death is so near? Do they care?

I light a cigarette as I take them in. Arms pulled up above their heads, hanging from chains. Their legs are also chained to the floor. They aren’t going anywhere.

I breathe in deeply and then blow smoke from between my lips as I walk toward them. Hoax has already prepared everything for us to handle these three, but it’s the torture I want. I want them to think about their deaths before it comes. I want them to know we’re going to be the ones to end them.

I walk closer and blow smoke into the asshole's face who’s closest to me. He stares at me but doesn’t say a word. I smile and put out my cigarette on his chest, listening to his scream as it burns through his flesh.

“You know, I have the power to make your death painless. I have the power to end you so quickly that you won’t even know it’s happening. I’ve trained for this since I was a kid. I’ve dealt with so many like you in the past, and killing you assholes? It never gets old,” I tell them as they watch me walk in front of them.

“On the other hand, I have the power to draw this out. I know all the places to cut and stab so that you won’t bleed out too quickly. That’s mainly my specialty. Watching you assholes cry and beg for a life that you’re not going to keep.” I keep walking until I stop in front of the blond, pretty boy at the end. I can see why kids would trust him. He looks like someone who climbed off the GQ magazine. He’s also the weakest one here. How can I tell? He keeps eyeing the others next to him. He can’t be still. He’s nervous, afraid of what’s going to happen to him and I love every second of it.

“I don’t like to repeat myself, so I’m only going to ask this once. Where did you pick those kids up?” I look at him first. If anyone is going to break, it’s going to be this one. He glances sideways and I reach up, grabbing his face roughly in my hand.

“Don’t look at them for help. They are no use to you anymore.”

“I don’t know where they came from. I was only to transport them,” he says. He’s lying, trying to cover his ass, and that pisses me off. I keep his face in my hand, squeezing it until his lips pucker.

“Do you know how I know you’re lying?” I ask him. He shakes his head as much as he can with the grip I have on him. “You’re the pretty one. The pretty ones are always the worst because they don’t look like they’d hurt you. But deep down? They’re monsters. They will eat you up and tear you apart.”

“I’m not! I’ve never touched those kids!” he cries. Now I laugh.

“I find that hard to believe, pretty boy. Last chance to answer my question,” I warn. He doesn’t speak, and I release his face, step back, and grab a knife off the table as Hoax walks in.

“Are you playing with our new friends?” he asks, looking toward the three of them.

“They don’t seem very talkative,” I tell him.

“No? Let’s see if we can fix that.” I watch Hoax grab a pair of pliers and walk over to one of the others. He stops in front of him and grins. “You don’t want to answer my boys’ questions?” he asks and gets no response. Hoax reaches up and pries the man’s mouth open before raising the pliers and gripping a tooth. Hoax isn’t a small man. He’s built big and muscular, so it doesn’t take him long to rip the man’s tooth out of his mouth. The man screams and howls in pain as blood rushes out of his mouth. Hoax holds up the tooth and examines it before tossing it to the floor.

“That was fun. You want to answer him now?” he asks, nodding toward me. He shares a look with the one next to him before he finally speaks.

“They’re from New York. We’re only supposed to deliver them over the border,” he replies as blood runs down his chin. New York? It’s been a while since we’ve stopped anyone from there. I pull out my cell and call my contact, Barker, letting him know the kids will need to be returned to New York and handled from there.

“Now that’s taken care of, we can have a little fun! Who’s up for a game?” Hoax asks them as he walks behind them, yanking their pants and underwear down to their ankles. The men try to fight it, of course but there’s no use. Hoax is ready to play and I have no issues letting him.

Hoax walks over to the corner and comes back with a tool he’s made. It’s a long piece of metal with tiny spikes on the end. I’m sure you don’t need an explanation as to what he’s going to do with that.

Nevertheless, he walks up behind the pretty one and slides his gloves on. Then he pulls the man’s ass cheek wide and shoves the metal into him. Pretty boy screams in pain as Hoax keeps on thrusting. Hoax doesn’t stop. The more he screams, the more he thrusts. Hoax has a thing for screamers.

I walk up to the next one and raise the knife in my hand to his face.

“You like that? What’s happening to your friend?” I ask him, dragging the tip of the knife across his cheek. He winces, but I didn’t cut him that deep. “Your ass is next,” I tell him with a grin. When Hoax pulls the tool free from the first one, he comes to this one. I smirk as I walk over to the first and let the other enjoy his time with Hoax.

“I bet that made you rethink taking kids, huh?” I ask him. Tears roll down his cheeks as I raise the knife to his eye. “I bet those kids cried, didn’t they? Didn’t they?” I roar when he doesn’t answer. He nods his head, and that’s when I get to work, cutting his fucking eyes from his head.

Hoax does whatever it is that Hoax wants to do to them before tossing the tool to the side. Once I’m finished carving them up, I toss the knife onto the table.

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