Felis Leo

Chapter VI: Holier Than Thou

Somewhere in a dark, musty room, a record was placed on a turntable. The needle scratched through a thin layer of dust that gathered in the black grooves, and the opening lyrics of The Crystal Ship by The Doors filled the small 6' by 6' space. The lyrics filtered into Ellie's consciousness, wrapping her in a familiar comfort that dragged her back to more peaceful times. Her mind replayed memories of her parents playing the song on the long trip to Argentina when she could not have been older than three. She would crank down the window, let the hot air and dust hit her face, and stare at the horizon as the mellow music filled her young ears. It was one of the more peaceful times in her life.

But now was not the time to feel peaceful. As she began to regain consciousness, she could feel her body strapped down in an unnatural position: neck craned back, some sort of thick strap wrapping around her ribcage, her feet tied together, and her hands bound behind her back by something that cut into her skin. Forcing open her eyes felt like forcing open a locked steel door, but her adrenaline gave her just enough energy to combat the splintering headache that now filled her skull. She opened her eyes.

The room was a plain white, dimly lit cube, with a single window on the wall opposite Ellie, which was open to the outside apart from steel bars stretched across it. The room was filled with junk: small tables filled with clutter, a dresser with a record player on top, all coated in a thin layer of dust. Standing in a corner opposite her, was the black-suited man. He stood over a large tool bench adorned with an extensive knife collection that sat on top. He did not seem to notice she had woken until she attempted to turn her head to the side, only to realize that some sort of leather strap across her forehead was holding her head in place. She felt like a lab rat, primed for dissection.

"Rise and shine," The man said cheerfully, turning to look over at her. They were the same words that Dean always woke her up with in the morning, and the sound of those words in his mouth made her feel repulsed enough to vomit. Still struggling against the straps, she gave her most menacing glare at him.

"Who the hell are you," Ellie demanded, feeling the plastic bite into her wrists behind her back. In her unconscious state, she had been efficiently restrained to a leather chair in this god forsaken slaughterhouse. Well, not sure if it's a slaughterhouse yet, Ellie corrected herself. I have a knife collection too, to be fair.

Confidently, the man approached her where she was tied, and leaned over. It was then that she was finally able to see his cavern of an eye up close, and look upon its hideousness. The curdled-milk appearance that filled his pupil was more repulsive than any corpse she had ever come across in her hunts, and though she had not yet had a full conversation with him, she already felt an insatiable ache in her soul to see him dead.

"My name is Cornelius Grimwall," He introduced, name rolling off his tongue as though it were a snake slithering from his mouth. His breath reeked of a smell that Ellie couldn't quite place, but was distinctly metallic. As hideous as his scarred eye was, Ellie found herself staring at it, unable to focus on his one good eye, which looked at her with the color of sterling glacial ice.

"I've been waiting for you for a long time," He continued, not waiting for her to extend the courtesy of introducing herself in return. He leaned back, still looking at all aspects of her face as though he was planning to strip her for parts. "They warned me you were coming. They told me what you looked like, down to the last hair on your head but they didn't tell me about your eyes.... You have old eyes, Elisora. Has anyone ever told you that?"

Ellie hesitated before responding, courage briefly departing her as her gaze remained fixed on the curdled milk. Finally, she tore her gaze away from it, fixating on his good eye to maintain her dominance. It was pertinent that no matter how loudly her heart pounded she present herself as unafraid.