[✔] White over Red (boyxboy)

(M) ֍EPILOGUE: An Eye for an Eye

"Once, I saw a kitten at an intersection on my way home from school. I don't like commitments or responsibilities. So, I chose not to take it home. I just ignored it. But the next day, I saw it again. It was still there. I wonder where its mother is? But anything can happen to a stray cat so it is always better off not to get too attached. However, despite knowing that I should not get attached to it, I still brought a cupboard box for it from home. I placed the kitten inside the box. And then I bought some canned food and milk for it. And it became my daily routine to give it food and milk on my way home from school. It went on for a few weeks."

It was the same warehouse. The place where many people had been tortured and killed. The place where so much blood had been spilled. It was secluded and quiet. Thus, it was perfect. A very tall man was working hard on a display while five other people were the audience of this scene. Kirill couldn't believe how soft spoken and gentle the tall man was that it didn't match with what he was currently committing. Even as he was skinning Mr. Lebedev alive, the tall man was still gentle in his demeanour. Mr. Lebedev was screaming in pain but the tall man would slowly coax him to be quiet like that of a father coaxing a child. It was such a paradox.

Mr. Lebedev's wrists were hooked to a chain from the ceiling. He was forced to stand properly on his feet to avoid the hook from ripping further apart the skin on his wrists. But he was shaking in pain that his legs almost gave out. He was naked and the man was using some kind of electric tool to peel off the skin little by little from Mr. Lebedev's body. The blood was spilling. But the look on the tall man's face was still as emotionless as ever. It was like he was peeling the skin of a fruit instead of a human being. He was meticulous and careful and almost... 'romantic' in his method of executing torture.

Kirill couldn't stand watching the paradox anymore. He stood up and ran to the side. Everything was spilled out of his stomach. The sandwich that he had that morning with orange juice, he threw it all up. He felt sick. He couldn't stand it. His whole body was shaking in fear and also disgust at what he had just witnessed. But despite that, the boys behind him were laughing their heads off. "It's always like that the first time," one of them was commenting but Kirill couldn't figure out who it was.

Stepan was by his side, patting his back and rubbing on it to soothe him. "Baby, you gotta watch this. It's okay. It's always like this the first time. You'll get used to it soon enough," he said.

Get used to it? Kirill doesn't want to get used to it. Yes. He wanted revenge. And fine, they can do whatever they want with that wretched old man. But he doesn't want to see it. He doesn't want to know. As the saying goes... 'out of sight, out of mind'. He couldn't handle this. "I want to go home. Please, Stepan... I want to go home," he started to beg. Normally, Stepan would listen to him if he begged. He knew that Stepan liked it when he begged.

"One day, as usual, I bought food and milk for the kitten and walked to the intersection. This time, the kitten was waiting for me. As soon as it saw me, it rushed to come towards me. I screamed to tell it to stop. But it didn't listen to me. A red car was driving fast and hit the kitten. The car just drove off without a care in the world. I remembered the plate number, the make and model of the car, the colour, and the small details like one of its tail lights that were out. I remembered the man's face as well. And I remembered the details of how the ground that I dug to bury the kitten was damp and the warm blood turned to cold and the sound of the kitten's last meow. I remembered it all. It was like the kitten was bidding me goodbye. But I couldn't let go. I should've brought it home from day one and locked it inside my house. Being locked inside the house will keep it safe. I shouldn't have brought the cupboard box. I shouldn't have bought the food. Or the milk. I shouldn't have gotten attached. I hate goodbyes."

"Kirill, this guy killed your brother. He deserved this much and many more," Stanley started to persuade Kirill.

Alberto was still laughing as he spoke; "honestly, this is so inspiring." Kirill knew that all Alberto cared about was finding inspiration for his sadistic game. He was very enthusiastic about meeting Stepan's cousin, the tall man, just now. He looked like a fan of a celebrity. Kirill didn't know what Stepan's cousin was famous for and he for sure wouldn't want to find out anyway.

Andre on the side started to yawn. He just wanted to be home to see Maria. He couldn't help but think that Maria looks the prettiest without her legs, arms, eyes, and tongue. That way, she had no choice but to just rely on him alone. He promised to himself and to her that he would take good care of her for the rest of his life. "Aaa... I'm bored. I just want to go home. When will this be done? Your cousin is taking his sweet time," he complained.

"I don't like it. I don't like this, Stepan, please..." Kirill shook his head in protest. Stepan pulled him close and held him in his arms. The sounds of Mr. Lebedev's screaming had stopped. There are only wheezes and whimpers coming from him now. Stepan's cousin must have stopped his performance without an audience.

"Is everything alright there?" The tall man asked from a distance. The gentle tone in his voice caused Kirill to shudder even more.

Stepan turned his head sideways a little to signal that it's okay and then turned to pay his attention back to his beloved. "Okay, okay. Then, tell me. How would you like it to be done?" Stepan coaxed.

"Feed him to the alligators? Hanged? Drowned? Your choice," Alberto suggested.

Kirill kept shaking his head in protest. He felt even more sick to the ideas. Stanley was sighing before he suggested; "ah, it's better if he is burned..." There was a small smile on his face as he thought about fire. He liked fire. He liked how bright it all went up in flames and how dark it got when the fire was out.

"Burning is your thing," Andre complained. "You know, Kirill, this guy burned the whole orphanage when he was only 10. His aim was one person but he ended up killing everyone. To ashes!" Andre informed and then laughed as he thought how ridiculous it was. Stanley wanted to end the life of his father's illegitimate child but he burned everything down and simply chalked the rest up as collateral damage.

Kirill turned quiet as he listened to the new information. Stanley had begun to say something to Andre to shut him up but Kirill could no longer hear the details of them bickering anymore. His mouth suddenly moved on its own. "Burned," he whispered unconsciously.

"It was on the weekend when I saw it again. The red car with one of its tail lights broken. The man was drunk. It was him. It was him who killed my kitten. An eye for an eye... I had always been impulsive. But that time, I was very calculative. I had made sure he was very drunk. I had made sure he would be alone. I had made sure that he would be somewhere secluded. I had made sure that nothing would be traced back to me. I had bought the gasoline and the lighter from a store far from home and one that I've never been to and would not go to ever again. I wanted him to be conscious when it happened. I wanted him to feel the pain. I tied the man to the driver seat, spilled every last drop of the gasoline in the car, lit the lighter up and threw it in. The sight of him screaming as the fire licked his skin alive was very fulfilling. I have gotten my revenge for my little kitten."

What Kirill had said was almost inaudible but Stepan somehow understood him. "Hmm? What did you say?" Stepan asked for confirmation.

"I want him burned," Kirill spoke resolutely. His eyes lit up in excitement and anticipation. It was as if he didn't see it for himself the excitement that he was feeling. Seeing that look in his eyes, Stepan couldn't help but to feel excited himself. There... That was what he was waiting for. To see that look in Kirill's eyes again. The look that only monsters would display on their faces. That was the same look he saw that night many years ago in New Japan when he witnessed Kirill committing murder for the first time. He lit up a lighter that caused a car with a man inside it to be licked by flames. The madness and satisfaction in Kirill's eyes back then were wild, beautiful and attractive. Stepan had fallen in love at first sight.

"Let's have him burned then," Stepan smirked as he agreed. It was all worth it. From the day he hired a fake private investigator to lure Kirill to Krasniy and to the day Kirill surrendered himself to him, everything was worth it.

An eye for an eye... The fire was burning beautifully in front of them. The sound of the man screaming was oddly satisfying. A laughter that had started off low began to grow in its volume. Kirill almost couldn't recognise that the laughter was his own.

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*Author's Note: You will meet the tall man in the second story. Stepan and Kirill will also make their appearance in it. It will take a while before I start with the second story since I'm almost at the edge of my final semester and I need to do several more revisions for my thesis. I can't wait to graduate. After graduation, I will keep writing more stories and do some translation of novels for Knoxt. It was fun to write. I hope you all had fun reading too. Thanks for commenting and voting and bearing with my crazy self. Love y'all. -K