~Beneath The Surface~

Passage 5 ~ Gabriel

When I tried to wipe the blood off my hands, it wouldn't come off, which was extremely inconvenient.

"Who are you?" Asks the battered man chained to a chair.

"You'll find out soon enough, but for now, I'll ask the questions." I say as I re-insert the heated iron rod into his thigh. He screams as his flesh slowly burns.

"Now we can do it the simple way, the less painful way...or the complicated way, which guarantees you a sloooow and patronising death. So I'll ask you again: who hired you to steal the van containing my weapons?" I question.

"I'd rather die than tell you anything!" he exclaims angrily. In response, I shake my head.

"Well, friend, you just made the biggest mistake of your life." I choose to emphasise the word 'friend'.

I pick up the knife and began sharpening it. "Are you familiar with the yakuza?" I inquire, and despite the fact that he was wearing a blindfold, I could tell he was disoriented. "No? Yakuza is a Japanese gang, a clan of thugs, or a Japanese mafia if you will. They are serious about their business. Of course, they pale in comparison to the Sicilian, but not by much. Other gangs generally underestimate their power, but they do have a history of charitable giving. Doesn't really help them build a reputation, do you think?"

"Where are you heading with this? Just kill me now because I'm not telling you anything or are you trying to kill me with boredom."  He asks unconcernedly. I couldn't help but laugh at his remark.

I finish sharpening the knife, pull out a chair, and take a seat across from him. "As I previously stated, they may appear to be amateurs, but they know what they're doing, as I've witnessed firsthand. They don't like disobedient men, and who does? So they have a distinct method of teaching them manners."

I motion for Hyun-ki to untie his wrists and place one of his hands on the table next to us.

"It's called 'Yubitsume,' and it refers to the cutting of the little finger. The origin is quite poetic, but we're not going to get into that right now, so..."

I lightly drag the knife down his cheek, just enough to draw blood and cause him to hiss in pain. Then I move to his right thigh and press the knife against his bullet wound, making him to scream loudly. Ah, music to my ears.

I'm glad I spent all that money to make this chamber soundproof. Even though I don't intend to stay here, I did purchase this vila for unplanned visits such as this one.

"Are you ready to talk?"

"Go to hell." He spits. I let out another humourless laugh. I ignore his burned wound and reach for his hand. Instead of slicing off a finger at a time as I had planned, I slashed off his entire hand with one swift motion, splattering blood all over by the place including my clothes and face. I didn't expect to make this much of a mess; I was planning on going out, but I guess I'll be cleaning this filthy blood all night instead. What a pity.

"You know, I've always considered quick deaths to be a blessing. Instead, I enjoy hearing the cries of the peasants in front of me begging me to put an end to them."

"Please," he begs, "just do it." Ah, there it is, "y-you have...no...use of me" he spits out blood, and I take a step back.

"Simply say the name. All you have to do is say a name, and instead of letting you die, I'll take you to a special medical facility and forget we ever met" I observed slowly.

"Fine! It's...Kang Sungjin" he exhales shakily.

'Who?' As if he read my mind he says "Son of Giuseppe Di Marco, godfather of the Tigers Mafia"

'Aish, this mafia is starting to get on my nerves, but fortunately, I know how to put a stop to it.'

"Now, why did you have to make this so long? Wouldn't it have been better if we had started out this way?" I take a step forward and gradually remove the man's blindfold.

He adjusts to the light for a minute before his gaze falls on me. I give him a quick wave and grin.

"I'm sure you're wondering who I am..." After a little pause, I continue, "...well some call me guardian of hell" and his face almost instantly flushes red with recognition, his eyes widening.
Hyun-ki presents me with a gun.

With a tiny tilt of my head, I aim it at the man. "I see you're familiar with my name...so you're undoubtedly aware that I don't leave any traces or in this case witnesses..." I deactivate the safety catch "...and the fact that I don't conduct business with dogs"

"No, no, we made an agreement! You said you'd let me liv-" BANG! Ugh, don't you despise people who talk a lot? I certainly do.

"Hyun-ki, get someone to clean this up and make sure it doesn't stain the floor," I say; he bows and begins to follow my instructions.

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A/N
I really enjoyed writing this chapter 😂
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