Sickest Addictions: Sympathy For The Devil

Chapter Four

Screams could be heard coming from deep within the house. It's muffled cries of pain sounded through the hallways and rooms. Down below the surface of light, into the dark, cold cellar, was where it was at its loudest. A man was pinned to a chair. His wrists and hands tied down with ropes, while two teen boys held his shoulders back. One of the boys gagged the man, holding a towel inside his mouth to muffle the screams further.

There was a third player as well. He was kneeling down in front of them, holding a pair of pliers around one of the victim's toes. The majority of them were mangled and broken, covered in blood from the blood seeping down from his ankles. His flesh from the wire-like rope had been rubbed raw from the constant struggled against the restrains. This one was a fighter. It was proven difficult to get him to talk, but it wouldn't be impossible.

"Now I'm going to ask you again, who the fuck stole my money and ratted one of my guys out to the police, huh?!" Jeremy shouted at the man, tightened his hold on the handles of his weapon. The man whimpered, but didn't say a word. His captor sighed and proceeded with twisting the man's toe until it broke with the bone showing through the skin. Agonized screams came out louder than before, along with choking from the gag that tried to quiet them.

"Are you gonna pay up now, buddy?! I can't hear you over the screams! Speak up, man!" Jeremy cackled, standing up to get closer to his victim's face. He stroked it, patting the side of the broken and bruised face. "This can all be over soon if you only tell me, baby. Ya see I just want my money. Boss man wants his money, and since one of your brain dead workers stole from us, and not to mention got one of our best sellers thrown in the can, well you can understand that we're not happy. So I'm going to give you one last chance to do the right thing, before I break your neck next, who's ass is getting burned tonight?" He asked, leaning in close to the victim's face. The man only breathed harshly as he fought against the restraints. Jeremy motioned his helper to ungag the man's mouth.

"You got somethin' to say?" He asked again, to which the man twisted his own wrist around beneath the ropes, and flipped the drug dealer off as he spat blood in his face.

"Fuck you," The fighter managed to choke out.

Jeremy sighed and took a step back, wiping the blood from his face with his jacket sleeve. He let out a chuckle as he shook his head at the fool, and took off his coat, tossing it to the side. Then, holding out his hand, one of the boys placed a hammer in his palm. Jeremy accepted the weapon, walking back to the victim. His free hand grabbed onto the man's shoulder as he positioned himself in front of the other.

"Last chance," He offered, but still there was no reply worth saving the victim. Jeremy sighed as he raised the hammer high above the other's head. "Going once, going twice....Alright, let's have some fun," The dealer said with a sinister grin playing on his lips.

The victim began to breathe rapidly, closing his eyes tightly as he waited for the first blow to come crashing down against his skull. However, it never came. Instead, right before it was to come down, another voice had stopped the thug in his bloody tracks.

"What did I tell you? Do not play with your toys if you can't learn to clean up after yourself!" The annoyed sounding voice scolded the dealer, throwing a bloodied rag to his face. Jeremy caught it, wiping his hands with the cloth instead, to clean them of the fresh blood covering them.

"Excuse me for doing what I was told! You told me to find the guy so I did! You said nothing about having a little fun with him," The dealer defended himself, dodging a slap aimed towards his head.

"I thought we made it clear that you clean up your messes when you are finished!"

"Well does it look like I'm finished?!"

Jack turned, shifting his attention towards the man tied up on the chair. His eye then looked to the two boys standing behind the victim, looking as if they had no idea who's side to take. With a sigh, Jack motioned them to leave by nodding his head to the exit of the basement. Quickly the boys ran out, hurrying up the stairs and soon out the door, that could be heard being shut from the surface. As soon as they were gone, the green eyed killer looked back to his business partner with a scowl. He thought that the man must have been an idiot to bring trouble. Any moment people could drop in to check on the ex-mental patient. Having a thug's victim in his basement wouldn't look well on his behavior documents. He looked to the man tied up, whose eyes were still closed he muttered something to himself.

"Is this the one you were complaining about?" He asked, ignoring the sound of whimpers and quiet pleas.

"The one that stole from me? Yep, that's the one, and if you'll excuse me I have some business to take care of, I'll clean up after myself I promise," Jeremy reassured, raising the hammer once again to bring it down upon the victim's skull. Jack's eyes followed the trail of blood dripping down from one of the man's eyebrows that led down to a fractured nose and busted lip. Jeremy had beaten him up nicely, it was a shock that the man was still conscious. Then again, he must have been used to getting into brawls with other drug lord by now. From the blood soaking his beaten face, Jack could make out a few scars on the man's brow and chin. He was not at all an innocent soul, which was a reason to mess with him now.

"Stop," The killer said, holding up his hand for the other to pause from using his weapon. Jeremy grumbled under his breath, annoyed that his play time kept getting interrupted.

"What?" He spoke with an attitude that had Jack shooting him a look. The dealer quickly corrected himself by mumbling an apology under his breath.

"Did you get any valuable information out of him?" Jack raised a brow, ignoring the other's frustrated tone.

"No, I was going to just beat the guy senseless instead, he won't budge anyways, so might as well make the most of my time," He frowned, glaring at the one tied up.

"Then perhaps I can try?" Jack offered, to which Jeremy scoffed at and turned to put away his tools.

"Be my guest, the bastard won't speak for shit," He grumbled a he began cleaning and putting his weapons back in order.

Meanwhile Jack examined his partner's victim. The man was stripped of his wants, leaving him in his boxers while his light blue button up shirt was still on, yet covered in his own blood just like the rest of his beaten up body was. With a slight smirk, Jack leaned down towards the man, their noses almost touching as he got in close to the victim's face. His eye were still closed as he continued to mutter under his breath of how he wished the new voice in the room didn't match the picture of it's beholder in his head. This amused Jack, but his face was kept in a blank stare, not daring to show any emotion whatsoever.

"Look at me," He spoke, his voice low and quiet, but still loud enough for the victim to hear. Hesitantly, the man opened his eyes, instantly regretting that he had as soon as he met the blazing green color. Desperately he wanted to close his eyes again, but it was far too late for that now. They were open, and face to face with the ex-mental patient with a dark past that no one wanted to remember. Those green eyes were staring deep into the victim's, a spark of some terrible went off in them, which only meant that things were about to take a turn for the worst.

"Now I don't care about the money you stole from Jeremy, nor do I care what addict you put behind bars," The killer said, his voice sending chills down the victim's spin now that there was a face to it's owner. "But what I do not accept is liars, and if I'm correct, you lied to Jeremy about paying what you owe for the goods that you stole, you two had an agreement from what I heard, yet you decided it'd be okay to screw him over for your own personal profit, am I correct?"

The man didn't say a word, but instead nodded his head as he swallowed back a whimper of fear.

"Not once did you stop to think that Jeremy here had connections to people who don't play well with cheaters, now you can tell him all he needs to know or not, I know you won't because cheaters never confess to their lies, so it is your own fault for not covering up your tracks well enough, I hope you learned your lesson," Jack said, the slight grin returning to his lips as he climbed onto of the man's lap, and sat there with his hands running across his victim's face to get a proper hold on him. "Because the thing about liars....Is that they're screamers when it comes to punishments." With that said, the cannibal lunged forward, biting onto the man's ear with his teeth sinking deep into the flesh, tearing it apart from the rest of his body.

Screams of pain sounded through the house again as the victim struggled to break free, though it was no use to fight anymore. He was doomed to suffer in the hands of a deranged cannibal that had bitten off his ear, and was now spitting out what was left of it. The victim's cries had settled in the slightest, but would start back up again as he pleaded for the one on top of him to stop as Jack started moving towards the other ear. However, just as the killer was about to bite off the other one, he stopped mid-way to the man's face as muffled knocking from above was heard, followed by the sound of the doorbell being rung.

Slightly panicked, Jack turned to Jeremy who looked even more surprised that someone had came so early that morning. Quickly the two shuffled around the room, getting things in order before cleaning themselves off from the crimson liquid. They then wrapped tape around their victim's head after shoving a piece of cloth in his mouth to muffle his sounds further. Jeremy proceeded with punching the man a few times in order to get him to silence his groaning. The damage done to his head was enough to send him into a dazed state of mind with the throbbing pain of his bruises and cuts not helping his situation in the slightest.

"Get him out of here as quickly as possible, I want no trace of blood on the floor or I will have your head, got it?" The killer warned, glaring at his partner who nodded with a grin as he turned back to their victim.

"Relax, I got this," He said as the other was already making his way back up to the surface of the house.

The doorbell continued to ring, along with the knocking getting louder now that the person was kept waiting. Already, Jack could tell who the visitor was. The constant knocking and ringing had given it away before he reached the door to open it and reveal Hades standing behind it. The teen walked inside, taking off his coat as Jack shut the door behind them.

"Sorry I dropped in so early, and out of nowhere at that, I just thought I should check in on you, make sure you're taking your medication and stuff...." He said, looking confused as he looked around the room, puzzled as if he expected someone else to be there. Jack took notice in this, keeping calm as he took Hades's coat, and hung it up on the coat rack.

"Something the matter?" He asked, keeping his voice as calm a he possibly could. The adrenaline was still rushing through his veins, making his hands tremble in the slightest.

"Yeah, I just thought....I just thought I heard something is all, probably nothing," Hades waved the other off, clearing his head from wandering thoughts. "Anyways, uh....How are you?" He asked, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.

Jack narrowed his eyes, examining the young man's nervous posture. Something else was on Hades's mind, and he made it obvious that his thoughts were focusing on a certain subject. It was as if he was debating whether to bring it up or not. So Jack decided it would be best to ease the mood and offer to start off the conversation before things took a turn down an awkward road.

"Did you have something you'd like to discuss, Hades?" Jack questioned as he made his way into the kitchen, and leaned against the counter facing the dining room entrance. Hades followed close behind, still scratching the back of his neck as he decided against whatever he was thinking, and shook his head in response to the man's question. As he did so, he reached into his bag and pulled out some food items that he had got from a morning trip to the store. However, the thoughts would not go away, instead they pestered him in the back of his mind, rising to the surface in a way that couldn't be ignored any longer.

He let out a sigh as he set down a bottle of peanut butter onto the counter, and turned to face the one beside him. His blue eyes then met with the piercing green, almost making him completely forget about his question. But it was then that Hades realized that Jack had said his name. It was possibly the first time he had ever heard the man say it, and properly at that. The way his accent pronounced each letter, allowing it to roll off his tongue with such ease that Hades was lost for words. Though, he soon snapped out of it once remember what he had came there for in the first place.

"Uh, actually....I do have something to talk to you about, I'm just not sure how you'll take it," The young man admitted, chewing on his chapped lip as his hand began scratched at his neck again. Now Jack was worried and confused as to what Hades was getting at. He waited patiently for the boy to continue, but a muffled thump coming from down stairs had caught both of their attention.