Deepest Desire

70- Origin Of Screams

"Can you tell me what happens there? I heard they beat up guys there. Even kill them." He asked, almost worried but my happiness didn't allow me to think otherwise.

"Nah, why would I kill someone? Don't worry, it must be the way of work. We don't get our hands dirty, we have people for that."

Chuckling, I shook my head, pulling away and sitting on his bed. My perception was we would hold the top and let others do the work. I was wrong.

"I hope I can be like you and become useful. I couldn't do anything." He sighed, putting his book back.

"You didn't have to, Ruben. I can work in your stead too." I giggled, taking his words jokingly, shrugging his talks off.

"You fulfill your dreams. Live however you want. You don't have to follow our footsteps. So even if they hurt people, you don't have to hurt anyone. I would work for you too."

Smiling, I showed him a thumbs up to rest assured and give me the weight of his responsibilities as well. Whenever I recall old times, I couldn't recognize this person.

It was me.

Too much smiling. I smiled way too much.

"Really?" Ruben's face glowed to hear that as I nodded, "Yes."

"Okay!"

The following week, Father took me with him.

I expected he would take me to his workplace to show we handle work and the underneath layer but instead, he took me to a hideout.

It was dark, dim. It was nothing like how I imagined. Things were gloomy, a strange atmosphere of misery was spreaded everywhere.

I knew we were bad people, I knew we weren't counted among the justified ones but the smell of horror gave me a stern reminder that things were not how I imagined them to be.

"Sebastian. Today, you are going to take an important step in life. A path of no return." Father began to say but I was too engrossed in the place around me.

"It would be a rough path. The deeper you will dive, the darker you will go. Are you ready for it?" He asked, stopping in his tracks, glancing from his shoulder when we stopped outside a door.

Swallowing hard, I tried to act bravely and nodded, "Yes, Father."

"Then come with me." Pushing the door open, he took me somewhere.

We went down the stairs, there was another door and the moment he opened it, a scream reached my ears.

Gasping, my steps froze but the painful shouting came but Father took me inside and closed the door quickly.

They were torturing a man who was screaming constantly from pain. The place held a smell of death, disgusted, my steps stumbled as I covered my mouth with the amount of blood.

"W-what are they doing? He is screaming." I gasped, trying not to throw up from this repulsive smell, failing to ignore the screams, echoing in my mind.

"Pain is the most important lesson, Sebastian. It etches fear, the most important component of ruling. Remember what Valencia said? It's not respect, it's fear."

"But- But..."

I almost cried, covering my ears, turning my head away. Gasping for air as my head throbbed badly. An unbearable sting traveled in my mind.

My head hurt badly.

"Didn't you want to follow Valencia's steps? Then bear the sound of it."

Growling, Father roughly removed my hands, forcing me to listen to the sound of his screams, his anguish. The clarity of the sound evoked a tear.