Father Duncan Bennett made his way down the black and gray tiled hall, focused on the task at hand and trying his best to ignore the lewd remarks and catcalls coming from the inmates in the rows of cells on either side of him as he passed. He was accompanied by
two massive guards, each carrying a large nightstick in hand, giving any inmate who dared to reach toward the priest a hard rap across the knuckles. Father Bennett absolutely did not
approve of such an unnecessary show of force, but kept silent. He had bigger fish to fry this evening. Bigger, meaner, and much more dangerous fish.
Finally, they reached the end of The Walk, as the long hall on death row at Bryson Memorial Federal Prison was called. The priest and his escorts stopped at the the last cell on the right, next to the door to the execution chambers, the last home a death row inmate ever knows in this life, and presently the home of Robert Luther (Bob) Laug, better known to the media and the public at large as "Slash n' Burn Bob". He earned this moniker by
carving designs into his victims with what the police identified as 'a decorative dagger and a crude, homemade pyrography tool'. It was the presence of these markings that caught the attention of the Church and prompted them to take action. Father Bennett had been a part of the two most dangerous exorcisms performed in the 2oth century, several cases of ritual murders, and one really weird incident with a deck of cursed tarot cards in Albuquerque. asking a serial killer a few choice questions while he's shackled to a chair should be a walk in the park, spiritually speaking.
As it turns out, Bob Laug had stumbled onto a book of magic; ancient, evil magic, called the Khrall, written centuries ago by Darc-Oros the Blasphemer, the most powerful sorcerer of his time. The Church had been scouring the globe for it, so the hows and whys of such a powerful tome falling into the grubby meathooks of a cheap thug like Slash n' Burn Bob was a major concern. Things like that don't happen by accident, not when one is dealing with something as powerful as this book was believed to be.
The guards entered the cell, ordering Laug to lie face-down on the floor, hands and feet as far apart as he could get them. He complied with a big smile, his eyes narrowed and knowing. This unusual act of total cooperation took the guards aback, but they shrugged it off and got their heads back into the game. One of them stood at his head, the other at his
feet as they both produced heavy sets of shackles from the backs of their belts. The chains were no more than six inches and the cuffs were the type with thick metal bands on the outsides that could be tightened down by using a small handle on the side to ratchet them down. They brought his hands together behind his back and locked the cuffs into place, then secured his feet with the other set. By this time, a third guard had brought in a metal chair with a big metal ring welded to the back of the seat and one on the cross-member between the front legs. All three officers lifted the shackled prisoner from the cold floor and into the chair, the third guard padlocking the chains to the rings on the seat. The two escort guards thanked the third, and dismissed him to return to his post. Another chair was brought in for Father
Bennett, and placed about ten feet away from Laug's chair, facing him. Father Bennett crossed himself, kissed the crucifix on the end of his rosary, then entered the cell, thanking the guards in turn as they exited the cell and took posts on either side of the door.
"Mr. Laug, I'm Father Duncan Bennett, a representative of and recovery agent for Holy Mother Church. I've come to ask you about the Khrall and how it came into your possession."
Laug chuckled deeply, dryly.
"Ya get right to the point, don'tcha, padre? Not even gonna kiss my ass a little, soften me up, tell me this ain't my fault, blame society, all that horseshit?"
"I'm not one of those priests," Father Bennett said firmly, locking his eyes right into Laug's, almost as if challenging him, "I know what you've done and why. I will stop you, destroy the book, and then forget you ever existed while maggots eat your eyes and guts out repeatedly in Hell."
