Page 86 of Coup De Grâce
I crept over to the bed and lifted the heavy duvet to slip underneath. Man, this bed was so fucking comfortable. I settled in, pulling a bag of Funyuns out of my jacket as the man beside me snored.
That was really fucking annoying and would definitely disturb my musical marathon, but I hated to interrupt a man when he was getting a few z’s. Grabbing the remote that laid on the bed between us, I turned on the TV, making sure to keep the volume low so I didn’t disturb my new friend.
He would be resting in eternal peace soon enough, but there was nothing wrong with allowing him these few peaceful moments before I had some fun with him.
I flipped through the channels until I foundThe Greatest Showman. While I absolutely loved this new musical, it wasn’t one of my classic shows that really got me going. I would kill right now for someOklahoma. Then again, I loved to sing it so much that I might disturb this man’s final hours of rest.
It was probably for the best.
Peeling open the bag, I settled in for a night of musical enjoyment, constantly reminding myself not to sing too loudly. After all, it would be best if I finished my musical before I woke him up and destroyed his life.
I wasn’t sure what woke him. If it was my munching on the Funyuns or the way I was singing along under my breath with the snappy show tunes. But somewhere about halfway through the movie, I felt the air shift.
He was awake. Slowly, I turned to him, holding out the bag to him. “Funyun?”
The screamingin the trunk was really getting on my nerves. He was interrupting the best of my music, making it difficult to get in the right mood. And I needed to be in the right mood for a job like this. Failure was not an option.
I cranked up the music, singing along with Maria.West Side Storyreally was one of the best musicals of all time. Pulling into the storage facility parking lot, I punched in the numbers to grant myself access, then pulled through the gates to the back of the property where my large container waited for me.
I left the lights on as I killed the engine, illuminating the container in front of me. With added spring in my step, I popped the trunk, immediately gagging the man inside as dozens of tarantulas crawled over him. I figured that might creep him out, which was exactly what I had been going for when I dumped him inside with the jars.
I could have left the tarantulas in their glass confinements. That would have been enough to terrorize most people. But when he started talking about how he was going to kill me andall my family, I just got annoyed and decided to unleash some of them on him.
And that turned into opening all the jars when I started watching him scream and squirm. Torture was a beautiful thing, and the spiders only increased the fear going into my rented shipping container.
I hauled his body out of the trunk, brushing the spiders aside. I didn’t understand why he was squirming so much. They were adorable little creatures, and it wasn’t like they would actually kill him. Though the furry little guys were a little terrifying with their beady eyes.
“Alright, out we go,” I said, hauling his shaking body toward the shipping container.
Once inside, I hooked him up to an electric hoist and headed back to close up the car. On my way in, I shut the door behind us and flipped on the work light.
The man squinted at the bright light shining right in his eyes. “Oops. Is that too bright? Let me move it for you.”
I adjusted it so it wasn’t shining right at his face. After all, I was a nice guy, and I wanted his time with me to be at ease. For a while, anyway.
“Are you comfortable? Can I get you anything?”
The man scowled at me, his eyes bruised from where he had struggled, and I punched him. I regretted it, but there was nothing I could do about it. “You have no idea who you’re fucking with.”
“Au contraire. You don’t know who you’re meddling with.” I grinned widely at him. “Did you see what I just did?”
“You repeated my words,” he spat.
“Yes, but I did it with flair. It adds a little something, don’t you think?”
The man dangled precariously from the hoist, but he didn’t truly look scared. More angry and constipated than actual fear. That was going to have to change.
“Well, I assume that you’d like to get on with things. No point in just hanging around, am I right?”
Again, I grinned at him, but the man just scowled in return. “Man, someone is a little cranky tonight.”
“I will cut you and boil you to pieces,” he spat.
I was more than a little surprised by the venom in his voice. Usually, they begged for mercy. It was refreshing, to say the least.
“Oh, we’ll get to the boiling later. It happens to be a specialty of mine. But first, I thought I would give you the opportunity to tell me what I need to know.”
Walking over to the bench, I grabbed a bag of Funyuns and peeled it open, popping one of the treats in my mouth. “Now, usually, I go straight for the fear factor, you know? But I thought this time around, I would give you the opportunity to tell me what I need before I get to the whole vat of acid. It’s kind of messy, and honestly, as much as I love watching a man boil to death, this setup is not my usual way of doing things. Funyun?”
