𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐎𝐑 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔 ▸ After his restoration, the unthinkable happens - Dimitri tells Rose that loves fades and his has. To add insult to injury, Queen Tatiana ends up murdered with Rose's stake. Dimitri had asked Rose to give him tim...
If Ethan Moore thought his troubles were over after his confession, then he was sorely mistaken. He was removed from the dining room, taken to a dim, dark room in what he suspected was a root cellar—still tied to a chair—where he was locked in and left to languish for hours. He'd reconciled he'd be there indefinitely in the cold, alone when the door to his dank cell opened. The light suddenly illuminating the space was blinding and alarming. Going from pitch black to almost dazzling light had Moore on edge. Worse was seeing Mazur's private Guardians bringing in video equipment alongside freestanding lights. Whatever was about to happen was evidently going to be taped.
"What's going on?" Moore asked, alarmed.
"Nothing you don't deserve," one of his former colleagues replied, placing the lights in a corner of the room, well outside Moore's reach. That done, he set up a tripod before connecting a handheld video camera to it, activating the device. "All ready, Mr. Mazur," he said when Pavel and Abe stepped into the room.
"Thank you. Moore—besides Pavel and myself, two Alchemists, two human wizards, and two members of the late Queen's family have witnessed your confession. I don't doubt your admission was genuine, however, I must ask you to humor me while I extract your statement, again, via more physical means."
Before Moore had a chance to ponder what 'physical means' might entail, Abe was in front of him. Nodding to Pavel, who held the back of the chair so it could not topple, Abe started by repeatedly punching Moore in the face. Sickening sounds of bone-breaking were audible to all present, yet Abe didn't stop until his victim's face was a bloodied mess. Satisfied with the destruction he'd wrought, Abe sat beside Moore in a chair one of his Guardians had thoughtfully provided. He'd barely raised a sweat and looked remarkably comfortable with the damage he'd inflicted.
"Time for you to talk. Look at the camera."
Despite being barely conscious, Moore knew better than to defy Abe, so obediently faced the video camera, staring at it with the one eye that had not completely swollen shut. At a nod from Abe, Pavel untied the topmost of the restraints securing Moore to the chair, freeing his arms. Delicately, almost reverently, Abe took the closer of Moore's hands before retrieving a pair of heavy-duty pliers from his pocket. Rusty, and well used, Abe grinned at what was about to come.
"Tell me who killed Tatiana Ivashkov, and why," Abe demanded, taking the pliers and using them to crush Moore's thumb. Again bone shattered and immediately terrified shrieking filled the air, followed by all but incomprehensible babble from Moore.
"You'll need to speak more clearly," Abe warned, before moving on, breaking Moore's index finger.
By the time Moore had got through his videotaped 'confession,' Abe had broken all ten of Moore's fingers. Standing and punching him a few more times, Abe declared himself done. Being a man of his word, he offered the locum Guardian up to Pavel's attention, only stipulating the man must remain alive. Moore was swimming in and out of consciousness, yet still asked his boss, "Why the recording?"
Abe looked at the human-shaped bloodied mess still tied to a chair, and in a truly chilling voice replied, "So I can re-watch your pain again and again at my leisure."
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