Page 127 of Petite Fleur

The same guy scoffs at his reply, and I know that infuriates him. "Burn." I chime in.

What am I saying?

I shouldn't be participating, but these guys so far seem like total jerks.

Leon smiles at me and heads into his cabinet of tools without a word.

“Okay, here is the game. You will all burn and I will continue to do so until all of my questions are answered. Answering my questions will grant you a small break from the flames while your friends suffer.” He states to the men while lighting his blowtorch.

“I’m not telling you shit! Do you even know who my dad is? You’re going to fucking rot for this, asshole!” One of the men snaps back.

The sickening grin that comes across Leon’s face makes me gulp, but he starts with this man, dragging the torch down his leg while this man screams in agony. “I’ll rot? Listen to me, Johnny, I don’t give a fuck who your daddy is, he can burn too for all I care. I want to know what happened to Abby and why.” He yells over this man’s screaming.

“Jack, don’t tell him shit!” Mark yells over the screaming.

That makes Leon stop with the torch and turn to grin at Mark. “That’s horrible advice, Marky. Things go smoother when you do as you're told. Can you behave for me? Can you be a good boy and speak when you’re spoken to? Or does this have to hurt more than it should?” He asks.

I assume something in Leon’s eyes makes these men realize that he’s not joking, that he’s insane and unhinged, because the other two start to answer questions whenever the fire gets close to them.

Still, it doesn’t spare them from the torch or Leon’s rage.

Somehow, I'm more sickened by their storytelling than I am of what Leon is doing.

He's leaving blisters along their chests, their forearms, the bottoms of their feet, their knees, and everywhere else he can reach.

The smell of burning flesh fills the room and a somewhat black smoke hangs in the air above us. He leaves a burn so severe on one of the guys that his screaming stops completely, he stares up at the ceiling with a dead silence that hangs over the rest of the group. "Jack! Wake the fuck up!" Mark yells, looking over at his friend, but Jack isn't dead I don't think, I think he's in shock.

Another one even throws up from the pain. That was gross.

Nothing is nearly as sickening as these men somewhat proudly telling the story of how they spiked Abby's drink and dragged her to the basement of this party and had their way with her.

One even brags about her trying to limp home in the morning, but too sore and too beat up to even walk, so she gave up and laid on the floor under the stairs in an attempt to hide from these men.

I want to be sick just from hearing about this. I want to hug Abby and never let go of her. It's sick how little shame they have for what they have done.

When Leon told them that Abby was on suicide watch because she feared she was pregnant, one laughed, another said he'd take the baby and give it to his mom.

Respectfully, I don't think his mother is suitable to raise a child considering how he turned out.

What is wrong with these guys?

"Which one of you spiked the drink?" Leon asks calmly.

"It was Tony!" Mark cries out immediately.

"Fuck you! It was you who paid the bitch to spike it!" Tony yells back.

Leon slams his hand down onto the table while the two bicker. "Enough!" He yells. Both instantly fall silent. "Since you can't decide. I'll treat you all equally." He says calmly.

It blows me away how calm Leon can be during such a strange time. I'm doing everything I can not to throw up from the smell of urine, throw up, and burnt flesh. Yet he's just standing there with the same composure that he would if he were standing in line at the supermarket.

Leon ends up putting what he called an IJ into their necks; he says that's different from an IV. I don't know. He's the professional here, but he hooks them up to something in a glass jar. "Since you wanted to drug Abby's drink, we're going to let you all sit and enjoy this nice little concoction I have for you." Leon says calmly.

"What is it?" I ask curiously. Leon smiles at me, and I melt at the look I'm being given right now, like I'm the entire solar system to him. "It's embalming fluid, ma fleur. They will suffer an excruciating and somewhat slow death. Their organs will slowly shut down, maybe even melt. Their tissue will break down, their veins will burn until they're uncontrollably bleeding into their own bodies, their lungs will fail and their brains will shut down." He explains to me.

I raise an eyebrow at him, like the stuff they put in bodies to preserve them? How does he even get a hold of this stuff? It makes me nervous, but for some reason, turned on that he's so resourceful.

Maybe I am sick.