the sweetly scented killer

chamomile tea

seth

It'll be Flora's first time being off the grounds of the estate.

I'm a bit curious how this will go. A little angel roaming the rough floors of hell. At least she's not going alone.

I pour myself a cup of coffee, then make some tea for Flora.

"Good morning," she says. I decide to go with chamomile tea. I look behind me and find Damien.

"Good morning, Flora," he says back. I hear him pull out a chair and sit down. "Where are you two off to?" I dunk the teabag into the mug.

"Seth is taking me to meet Francesca Bolemn." I walk over to the table and set the mug in front of my wife. She thanks me.

I meet Damien's disapproving gaze. I raise my eyebrows briefly and take the seat across from Flora.

"What a great idea," Damien says sarcastically. I glare at him. "Well you kids have fun," he touches Flora's shoulder after standing up. I make sure he knows I'm uninterested in whether or not he thinks bringing Flora is a good idea with my expression.

"How is it?" I ask when he's gone.

"Delicious," Flora takes another sip. I let a small smile slip onto my face. "What?" she grins.

She's so fucking beautiful.

I shake my head and sip my coffee.

***

As we're walking to go get Francesca, people's eyes linger on Flora. I see them size her up, look at her like she's a meal, and I can feel her fear as she walks close to me. At one point, she holds onto my arm.

I'm not worried about something happening to her since I'm here. But if she wants to hold onto me, I certainly won't stop her.

I tell the guard outside of the chamber to release Francesca after showing him my identification. Her torture lasted overnight to be more unbearable—intense temperature this time. Cold.

Each round doesn't get increasingly worse so that the human doesn't know what's going to be thrown at them. It could be loud music one day, then intense stretching the next.

They give me a towel and I walk to Francesca when I see her. It's not a very large or thick towel, which annoys me a little, but I close it around her and take her into a recovery room. Flora sits next to her while I stand. She's shivering furiously—teeth chattering, unable to be still.

"Mrs. Bolemn," Flora says quietly. She barely responds, just with a glance in her direction. Flora holds out her hands. "May I?" Francesca nods slightly.

It only lasts a few seconds where Flora puts her hands on both sides of Francesca. I uncross my arms when she stops shivering.

"Thank you," Francesca says in awe. "How did you warm me up?"

"I cannot change your body temperature," Flora explains. "But I can shift your feelings and make you think you're warm instead of cold."

A gaze lasts between them until Flora smiles. "You're not a demon, are you?" Flora shakes her head.

"Okay, Francesca. Extreme heat next."

Flora helps her stand, but she's more mobile now. "What happens when it's over?"

I glance in her direction, but not at her. "You get your eternal fate."

"Does it include torture?"

"Depends."

"On what?"

"How bad your suffering is supposed to be." Silence follows this exchange.

"So, are you going to introduce me?" Both of them are behind me, and I don't turn to look since we need to get where we're going so I can argue that Francesca doesn't deserve an eternity of suffering.