Chapter 74
Serene
"Was it you?" I asked the man, my voice trembling with anger. Alex and Hamilton had come with me to the storage room. Because of my condition, my husband was even more insistent on staying by my side.
The man smirked as if mocking me. But what shocked me the most was how young he looked. He wasn't the older man I had imagined.
He was about the same age as Alex. I glanced at my husband, who seemed equally surprised.
"Boss, he was 17 when he killed Ma'am Marissa." My eyes darted to Hamilton when he said that. "I confirmed it."
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Rage crept up inside me, battling with my emotions over what I wanted to do to him.
"Take the gag off his mouth," I ordered. Hamilton quickly obeyed. But what infuriated me more was that even with the cloth still covering his mouth, I could see the smirk on his face, as if he was mocking me, looking down on me.
"Hello, little girl," he sneered. "I never imagined you'd grow up to be this beautiful. If I had known, I would've taken you instead."
His head snapped to the side as I punched him. I knew he felt it because of the blood now dripping from his nose.
"Ha! Ha! Ha!" he laughed cruelly. "You want revenge because you couldn't do anything back then, right? All you did was watch as your mother fought for her life."
I punched him again, harder this time. "Yes, you're right," I said, my voice steady. "I couldn't do anything then, just like you can't do anything now." And with that, I drove my fist into his stomach, making him cough up blood.
He was standing there, chained by both his hands and feet. "You can't do anything, no matter what I do to you now. I won't even let you squirm in pain."
"What are you talking about? Do you think you can kill me?" he spat, fury burning in his eyes.
"Do you think the person who ordered you to do what you did will save you?" I shot back. "Hamilton!"
"Yes, boss," Hamilton responded, knowing exactly what I wanted. He pressed a button, and the sound of machinery filled the room as the man's arms and legs were slowly stretched to the limits.
"What are you doing?!" he screamed, anger and fear creeping into his voice.
"If there's one thing I admire about you, it's your bravery," I said with a wicked grin. "You know you're about to die, yet you still have the nerve to ask what I am going to do."
"Honey," I heard Alex call softly behind me, but I ignored him.
"Do you think killing me will bring your mother back?" the man taunted before laughing maniacally. I didn't answer him.
"Stop," I ordered, and the machine halted, leaving the man gasping.
"Now, let's see what you do next." Hamilton handed me a Swiss knife, and I took it without hesitation.
"I know you," the man said, trying to regain control. "You don't enjoy torture." He was right; I never liked torturing anyone. But this was different-this was about my mother. My beloved mother, who had been taken from me too soon because of the man standing in front of me.
"Let's take off your shirt," I said, using the knife to slice through his t-shirt, cutting all the way down to his stomach.
"Ahhh!!!" he screamed in pain.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I cut your skin too?" I said mockingly, tilting my head. "I guess I'm getting rusty. It's been a while since I've done this."
"Honey, calm down," Alex said, standing behind me. I took a deep breath before responding, trying to steady myself.
"I am calm, Alex. If you can't handle what I'm doing, you can step out for a while."
"I'm only reminding you–"
"Please, Alex."
"Fine, but I'm staying here." I didn't respond and turned my attention back to the man chained up in front of me.
Moments later, Hamilton approached with a jar. "What's that?" the man, whose clothes were now torn and hanging loosely, asked nervously. Hamilton handed me the jar after opening it.
"When I was a child, I used to enjoy pouring salt on the worms I found in my grandma's garden."
"No," the man said, his voice shaky.
"I loved watching them squirm." I continued, noticing the fear starting to show on the man's face. "Maybe you're not afraid to die. Maybe you think your body can handle any kind of torture, no matter what weapon I use."
"Ouch!" Hamilton teased, clearly excited to see the man suffer.
"Hamilton, stop it," my husband scolded him, which made Hamilton chuckle.
"I'm sorry, Sir Alex. I just can't help it. This is my favorite part." Alex probably thought my man was crazy. And honestly, he wasn't wrong. As I said from the beginning, Hamilton was the most brutal when it came to torturing people.
I grabbed a handful of salt from the jar and threw it onto the man's wounds.
"Ahhh!!! You animal!!!" I laughed loudly as he screamed, tears forming in his eyes. It wasn't surprising, given that the salt hit his open wounds perfectly.
"You can call me whatever you want," I said, tossing another handful of salt at him. Just like before, he screamed in agony. I knew he desperately wanted to brush off the salt, but he couldn't since he was chained up. He couldn't even curl up in pain. All he could do was thrash around, hoping to shake the salt off.
But I wasn't finished. I rubbed the remaining salt into his wounds, making the entire place echo with his cries. "Sacramento…" he finally muttered.
"What do you want in exchange?" I asked coldly.
"Water, pour water on me," I smirked at his request and turned to Hamilton.
"You heard him."
"Yes, boss." Hamilton disappeared and quickly returned with a bucket full of water.
"He said to pour it on him…" I said with a grin.
"At your command, boss." Without hesitation, Hamilton dumped the water over the man, causing him to scream even louder. The salt dissolved in the water, intensifying his pain. I knew he would ask for water. That's why I had Hamilton prepare it beforehand.
"You know what to do," I told Hamilton before turning my back on them.
"Serene! Stop! I already told you who ordered me to kill your mother!" the man kept screaming. But I was deaf to his words now. He could never be allowed to live. I knew if he escaped, he would just kill again. And this time, more innocent people might get caught in the crossfire, especially since Sacramento was his boss.