Callie - An Enchantress Novel - Book 1

Chapter 22

Lucien got out of bed with an enthusiastic spring in his step. He was scheduled to torture a soul. Since his rise in the legion's ranks, he only had to torture a few souls once a decade or so and the task wouldn't normally give him such delight. A new soul arrived about a month ago, causing a commotion amongst the lesser demons. He would beg for forgiveness from the almighty upstairs one minute, and then boast of his conquests the next, describing in detail how he would penetrate his young victim's small bodies, making them scream for their mummies. He had the audacity to tell all who would listen, how he left them bleeding and broken while he took his pleasure.

A truly sick mind, the type Lucien had no leniency for at all. Yes, he had killed hundreds himself to strip them of their power, but most were rotten anyway and they had all been capable of putting up a decent fight. This new soul picked on defenceless children, eventually killing them for his own amusement when he tired of them. This was possibly the one thing Lucien would miss if he were ever freed from here - the torment of souls such as this one.

He entered the gates of Hell waving in greeting to Marshal and Damien, the gatekeepers, and virtually skipped his way to his assigned section. "Damn but it's hot in here today." He smiled his snake-fanged smile at the man in front of him, who had been given a solid form for his soul. "Let's start with the basics shall we? What's your name?" He didn't give the man time to answer before pushing a rusted steel knife into his thigh and twisted it. He withdrew the knife and asked again, "What's your name?" Down came the knife to bring about the agonized screams of the man before him. "I'm sorry," Lucien chuckled. "I didn't hear you. Someone was screaming in my ear."

The man continued to scream obscenities between his pants and trying to catch the breath that he no longer needed. "Arggghh, George. My name is George."

Another blow came, this time with Lucien's boot attached. It sank into the soft flesh of George's wounded leg. Lucien called for hell fire to sear the flesh from George's bones. His face and eyes were left intact so he could watch his body reconstruct. Lucien repeated his call for fire, using the flame to warm the knife blade as George's flesh reformed. He cut a thin ribbon of flesh from George's abdomen to test the blade's sharpness, peeling it away slowly to expose sinew and muscle - skinning him.

"Since you are so fond of little girls, George, I'm going to make you one." He took hold of George's penis and started sawing at it with the blunt knife. "Do you recall the name of your first, George?"

"Yes," George hissed through clenched teeth. "Please demon, have mercy. I couldn't stop myself," he begged.

"Did you really try, George? Or were you having too much fun? Now, do share the name of your first. You have been so forthcoming with so many other details already."

"Twins," he gasped as Lucien jerked the knife again, sawing to and fro. "Nieces," he wheezed, sagging forward. The ropes binding his wrists dug into his flesh, keeping him upright.

"I want names, George."

"Please. Can't think," he pleaded in agony.

"You can't think of the names of your nieces? Did they mean so little?" Lucien asked, removing the knife to pick a piece of flesh from it. "Nothing more than a temporary release, huh George?"

George wheezed through the pain as the sawing commenced again. "Adrianne," he squealed with anguish. "Callie."

Lucien stopped sawing to seek confirmation. "The Williams girls?"

George paled even more as a look of recognition crossed the demon's face. "Yes," he whispered.

Lucien's eyes took on a glazed look a moment before pure rage came over him. He began to tremble. The edge of the knife was thrust to George's throat – pressed hard enough against his adam's apple to prevent him talking. "I'm going to make sure you suffer every day for the rest of eternity. You will suffer every one of those days for what you have taken from the innocent children you have harmed." He took hold of George's penis again and with one swipe, he cut it from his body.