Page 43 of Monster in Disguise

He is slightly shorter than me, with dark hair and black eyes. So black, in fact, they look soulless—empty. His complexioncoupled with his features makes him seem like a doll. A lifeless doll that still moves.

I don't know why, but just one look at him and a shiver goes down my spine. Unlike Father and the Pakhan, his eyes don't have that malicious coldness. No, they are just bleak.

The Pakhan seems satisfied with that gesture of subservience and nods to one of the men outside the door. Soon, a man is being brought inside the room by two guards. He is thrashing around, and the guards secure him to a chair. One look at the adults, and I can see they are relishing this. I have an inkling of what is about to happen.

"Giovanni, this one's all yours. For now." The Pakhan mentions, and a smile spreads on Father's face. He goes to the table and picks up something... a knife, I think.

"Felix, you should have known this was going to happen when you spilled our secrets." Father takes a few steps until he is in front of Felix. He holds the knife up so the blade reflects the light, before moving it down Felix's cheek in a caressing motion.

"Let's see what you have to say in your defense." He lowers the gag from Felix's mouth, and he immediately starts saying something.

"It wasn't...." Father takes advantage of this to grab his tongue, and in one swift movement, he slices it. Looking with disgust at the piece of flesh in his hand, he flings it back, and it falls to my feet.

"I think you spoke enough," Father says, laughing at his own joke. The Pakhan joins as well, so do the guards sitting next to the door. Vlad's gaze is focused on the blood dripping from the man's mouth.

"There's no such thing as a pardon here." Father looks at me as he says this. I raise my head higher and try not to show I'm affected by what's happening.

I keep myself calm and controlled as I watch Father maim the man, chuckling every once in a while at a morbid joke.

"That's it." Father throws the knife on the ground and picks up a white cloth to wipe his hands off blood.

The prisoner is writhing on the floor, a few fingers strewn around him, his eye hanging out of its socket. He's still alive, but barely.

Father winks at the Pakhan and settles back, switching the roles.

The Pakhan slowly assesses the situation before picking up a drill from the table.

"Watch and learn, boy," Father says.

I bring my focus back to the Pakhan.

"Some areas on the body bring more pain than others. This isn't just torture. It's a lesson in what happens if you betray us."

With one hand, he grasps Felix's foot and lifts it up.

"See here, the arch of the foot is a very sensitive area." He starts the drill and, locating a middle point in the man's arch, he pushes the drill bit into it. Felix chokes on the pain, making a strangled sound as the drill advances, until the head disappears inside the foot. The pain must be unbearable, because at some point he passes out.

"Fuck!" The Pakhan curses as he realizes that.

"Finish him off and let's eat," Father complains, clearly not impressed with how things turned out. The Pakhan shakes his head in disappointment, and taking a small axe, he severs the head from the body.

"Let's eat!"

Lunch is even worse than watching someone being tortured, if that's possible. Vlad is as quiet as he'd been before, sometimes fixating on something with his eyes. Father and the Pakhan are boisterous, and they just won't shut up. You'd think that at least during a meal they'd shut up about their depraved acts, but it'sjust another opportunity for them to compete for the title of the most immoral in the room.

Otherwise, I can't explain why they'd talk about the men they've killed, the whores they've fucked, and the money they've made... all illegal, of course. The details are something I have no wish to hear, so I do my best to block everything out and focus on my food. Too bad even my appetite's gone.

After we're done, I'm surprised that we head back to the basement. Even more surprised when I see that there's a new prisoner inside instead of the dead one. This one is pretty much alive and terrified.

The Pakhan explains that the ball is in our court now, specifically mine, since Vlad probably wouldn't bat an eye at killing the man—at least from what I'd heard.

Father lowers his head to whisper in my ear.

"Don't disappoint me, or you'll regret it."

With a slightly aggressive pat on my back, both Father and Pakhan exit the room, leaving me with Vlad, my only audience. I look at the table and then at the prisoner, trying to make my body move and do whatever Father wants me to do. But I can't.

I pick up a knife and stare at it for a second, willing myself to do this, knowing what will happen if I don't. Vlad takes a step forward and tilts his head, studying me.

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