Warning: torture, gore, death
I've decided enough is enough. Tonight I'm going to tell Ryan everything. And tonight, he's going to help me kill Will.
I've made a fool proof plan. I bought a hunting cabin a few miles away from the school. It's remote enough that no one will hear his screams. He can cry and beg and scream until his throat bleed but no one will hear him.
I gave Duke his final mission in the investigation. Get Will to that cabin. I gave him a few things to help, of course. A knife, some rope, and chloroform.
As I wait on the line for the salad station, my phone buzzes.
Duke: we're at the place
Me: good
Me: hang tight I'll be there soon
Duke: I'll always wait for you
Me: stop being creepy
I tuck my phone back into my pocket. I discard my dishes and make a beeline to my table. Other students quickly move out of my way, wide eyes and shaky legs. I can feel it in my chest; the trademark stoic rage of my family.
I come to a stop at the head of the table, "Ryan."
He stops his conversation with Akio to look at me. I glance at our friends' faces that fill the table. Hannah still won't even look at me and Lina's eyes a swollen from crying, I think that senior dumped her. Akio and Noah watch on curiously though.
"What's up?" Ryan asks, hesitantly.
"It's time to go to church," I state and his eyes go wide.
It's a code phrase, one that I've never had to use before. For those who haven't been paying attention, churches aren't known as safe havens for my family. In fact, it's the place we've lost the most people. So the phrase, me telling Ryan that we need to go to church, means one thing.
Someone needs to die.
"Church?" Akio scoffs.
"Since when are you religious?" Hannah snarks.
"No offense but you might burst into flames if you go into a house of god," Noah laughs.
I ignore them completely and maintain eye contact with Ryan. His eyes frantically search my face as he stands. Wordlessly, he tosses his dinner and follows me out of the building.
"What happened?" he asks the second we're alone.
"Where's your gun?" I ignore his question.
"I dont-" he starts but I cut him off.
"Where is your fucking gun?"
I know he has one, I'm not fucking stupid. Just like I know that he took the oath. He's holding back secrets, whether it be through orders or his own volition I'm not sure, but it doesn't matter. I always find out.
Ryan watches my reaction carefully, "in my room."
"Go get it," I order, gesturing to Buhler. I figured as much.
He looks me up and down with trepidation before jogging into the dorm. I wait on the pathway and run my fingers through my hair.
It's time for all of the training Rome has been giving me to pay off. To utilize my newfound knowledge of anatomy and torture. To bring him to the cusp of death, only to start all over again. And to kill him without a trace.
I take out my phone and open the thread I have with my brother.
Me: do me a favor?
Demon Spawn: what?
Me: keep an eye on my roommate for me
Demon Spawn: anything specific?
Me: don't let her leave campus
Demon Spawn: you owe me
Ryan comes back outside with equal urgency as when he went inside and I tuck my phone away. I lead him towards the tree line, concealing us from staff. We walk towards the back gate where a taxi is already waiting.
"Elle," Ryan grabs my arm at the gate. "What's going on?"
"We can talk when we get there," I insist, pulling against his hold.
"No," he shakes his head, keeping his firm grip on my arm. "Right now."
I take a deep breath, "Will Montgomery has been stalking me and now he needs to die."
"What?" he exclaims. "What do you mean stalking? Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I didn't need your help until now," I reply. "We don't have time for this, c'mon."
I yank free of his hold and continue towards the car. Ryan's only a step behind. I give the driver the address and he takes off.
"Where the fuck are we going?" Ryan looks out the window.
I look at him out of the corner of my eye, "da qualche parte con la privacy."
(Somewhere with privacy)
"E come pensi di portare Will lì?" he asks, an edge of condescending in his voice.
(And how do you plan on getting Will there?)
"Lui è già lì," I inform him, adding. "Ho chiesto a Duke di aiutarmi."
(He's already there. I had Duke help me out.)
"Duke?" Ryan exclaims. "perché Duke è coinvolto?"
(Why is Duke involved?)
"Anche Will lo stava perseguitando," I explain.
(Will was stalking him too)
"Jesus Christ," he runs a hand down his face.
I turn back to the window. The taxi turns onto the dirt road of the cabin. Tall trees line the driveway and darkness surrounds the log cabin. The lights are on inside but they do very little to make the exterior visible.
Ryan and I climb out of the taxi and I hand the driver a wad of cash. I wait until the taillights are faint before going up the stairs of the porch. The door swings open just as I put my hand on the handle.
"Princess," Duke smiles before glancing at Ryan, "and the beast."
"Get fucked," Ryan scoffs, pushing him aside.
"Thank you for getting him here," I say as I step inside. It's nice and cozy, an excellent vacation spot probably. But that's not its function tonight. "I hope it wasn't too hard."
"Nothing I couldn't handle," Duke tilts his chin up with pride.
"Where is he?" Ryan asks.
"Cellar," Duke gestures to a trap door in the kitchen. "Tied up and everything."
Ryan saunters into the kitchen and begins to dig through the drawers. He's probably collecting tools. You know, knives and pliers and hammers and whatnot.
"Now what?" Duke asks, enthusiastically.
"Go back to campus," Ryan instructs from the other room.
"Hold on a minute-"
"Duke, trust me," I gently place my hand on his forearm, "you don't want to see what we're about to do."
Duke looks down at me with something akin to worry. But I offer him a small smile and kiss his cheek.
"Go."
He sighs but heads for the front door. I join Ryan in his search for weapons. I grab a meat pounder from one of the drawers as Ryan takes every knife he sees.
"You ready?" I ask him.
He takes a deep breath before looking at me, "you seriously fucking owe me one."
I take that as a yes and open the trap door. Muffled yelling gets louder as I descend the ladder. There's a single lightbulb illuminating the damp space. Small windows rest near the top of the walls but all that's outside is darkness. It's cold too, damn near freezing.
Just like Duke said, Will is tied to a wooden chair in the middle of the cellar. There's a cloth in his mouth, muffling his screams, and dried blood on his forehead.
"Hi Will," I start, yanking out the gag. We don't need it; no one can hear him anyways.
"What the fuck is going on?" he exclaims.
"You had your fun," I lean down so we're level. "Now it's time for me to have mine."
He frantically pulls against the ropes. I simply smile at him. I can hear Ryan's heavy footsteps descending the ladder behind me. Will's gaze falls on him and his futile attempt at escape starts from square one.
"What-"
Ryan punches Will before he can get another word out. The chair rocks, legs lifting off the ground, and I take a step back. I can't help but smile as I watch Ryan hit him again and again and again. This is exactly the version of him I needed.
Once blood begins to spill from Will's mouth, I grab Ryan's arm, "fermare."
(Stop)
He slowly lowers his fist and steps away from our classmate. Ryan may have all the anger and brute force but I have the meticulously thought out plan.
"So," I circle the chair Will is tied to. "You've been stalking me, huh?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Will shakes his head fervently.
"That's okay," I smile down at him. "The longer you play dumb, the longer we can have fun."
"Wait!"
I bring the meat pounder down on his hand. His bones break audibly and he cries out in pain.
Something I learned from Rome, which is quite interesting, is that it doesn't take much pressure to break fingers. In fact, they're about as easy to snap as your average carrot.
I take hold of his wrist with one hand and use the other to bend his pinkie at an uncomfortable angle, "want to try that again?"
"Fucking stop!" Will exclaims. I shake my head before breaking his finger. Another agonized scream fills the room and I move on to the next one.
One by one, I break each finger on both of his hands. Ryan remains behind me the entire time, deadly eyes boring into the man tied before us. I take a few steps away from the chair to stand beside my best friend.
"My turn?" he asks through gritted teeth.
"Have fun," I reply.
And he sure takes that to heart. Carving Will with the various knives he's collected. Landing blows to his face and gut. Tears pour from Will's eyes when Ryan finally stops to take a breath.
"Are you ready to cooperate yet?" I ask, striding towards the bleeding man. "Or do we need to keep going?"
"Fine! Fuck!" Will rasps. "I've been stalking you."
"Was that really so hard?" Ryan sneers.
"Why?"
Will's one eye is completely ballooned shut but he still looks up at me, "I can't."
"Rocco's been training you, right?" I say more than ask, looking at Ryan.
Ryan's eyes go wide, "what are you-"
"Fai ciò che va fatto, soldato," I instruct.
(Do what needs to be done, soldier)
Realization washes over his face and Ryan nods once before approaching Will again. There's a shift in him, I've seen it before. When the switch flips. When the man goes from someone you love to a cold blooded soldier.
"I'll ask again," I say to Will. "Why?"
"Please," Will practically whimpers.
"That's not a fucking answer," Ryan lands another punch to his cheek.
The thud of skin against skin fills the small space. I grab the blowtorch from the corner of the room and turn it on. If he's not going to cooperate after this beating, we're going to need to start cutting him.
Will's eye widens as I get closer, "I was told to!"
"By who?" Ryan spits out.
"He'll kill me," Will practically whispers.
"Shame," I sigh. "Whoever it is isn't going to get the chance. That privilege is all mine."
Ryan drags a knife across Will's chest, another split in his shirt stained red. I quickly hold the blue flame to the new wound, it's far deeper than the others.
Will screams in pain and slumps in the ropes, but he's not unconscious. He pants heavily as I turn off the torch.
"Make this easier on yourself," I say softly. "Cooperate."
"My dad, okay?" Will finally exclaims. "He's in the fucking Irish mob."
"What exactly were your orders?" I push him.
"Get in your head," he gasps. "Isolate you from your friends and take you down."
"How the fuck does the translate to stalking?" I scoff.
"It wasn't supposed to be like that," he continues to choke out. "I didn't mean to fall in love with you."
"Obsessed," Ryan is quick to correct.
"But why?" I shake my head. "Why me?"
"They've been targeting your family for months now," Will admits. "And you were the one we could get to the easiest. You're the only one not protected by your father or any of the soldiers. And you're the one who's supposed to take over."
"What are they planning?" I ask.
"There's going to be an ambush," Will replies, seemingly giving up on fighting back. I don't blame him, Ryan did some real damage. "Simultaneous attack of the compound, your house, and five of the warehouses."
"When?" Ryan seethes, he wraps his hand around Will's neck.
"Thursday," Will chokes out. "Before sunrise."
I nod slowly and rise to my full height. I mean, that's really all the information I needed. He confirmed what I already thought; that the Irish have been attacking my family and I was specifically targeted by them.
Only one question remains, "you've been getting close to Hannah."
Hesitantly, Will nods so I continue, "has she been helping you?"
"Yes," he whispers.
"Does she know what you're up to?" Black inches into my vision, a warning that the fury in my very DNA is about to come out.
"She hates you," he retorts. The remaining drops of confidence filling his words. "But no."
I glance at Ryan; that's all I needed.
He nods once; let's finish him.
I nod in confirmation; let's do this.
Wordlessly, Ryan pulls his gun from the waistband of his pants. Will's attempts at pulling free become more desperate. As if we'd let him live after what he's done.
The gunshot echoes in the cellar, stone walls doing little to absorb the sound. Will's body goes limp in the ropes and I put my fingers against his neck for a pulse.
"Have a plan to get rid of him?" Ryan asks, tucking his gun away.
"Put him in there," I point at an old tub in the corner of the room. "I have some lye upstairs."
Ryan nods and begins to untie the corpse. I head up the ladder and into the kitchen. I brought a few boxes of the chemical over yesterday for this very purpose.
By the time I get back to the cellar, Ryan has everything tidied up. I cover Will with the chemical before grabbing the hose and turning it on.
As the tub fills with water, sounds of bubbling and crackling surround me. I watch as Will's flesh begins to erode, falling off his body and staining the tub red.
"This is going to take a little while," I tell Ryan. "About three hours or so."
The smell is beginning to be too much so I go to the main level of the building. I wash my hands in the kitchen, blood disappearing down the drain. Ryan comes to stand at my side.
"Well," he folds his arms over his chest expectantly. "Are we going to talk about the fact that you've been keeping secrets?"
I match his position, "are we going to talk about the fact that you have been as well?"
"That's different," he insists. I go into the living room and sink into one of the old couches. They're worn in the best way possible.
"Is it?" I quip. "I neglected to tell you about some stalker. You neglected to tell me you took the fucking oath."
Ryan runs a hand through his hair and drops onto the couch across from me, "you're not supposed to know."
"Let me guess," I roll my eyes. "My Dad?"
"Elle," he shakes his head.
"Speak of the devil," I hold up a finger as I take out my phone. "Let's give him a call."
"Isabelle!" Ryan lunges for my phone but it's already ringing.
Dad answers on the third ring, "ciao, tesoro. Is everything okay?"
I look Ryan right in the eye as I respond, "I know who's been attacking you."
"Excuse me?" Dad asks.
"It's the Irish," I inform him.
"What are you talking about? You should be in bed right now, Isabelle," Dad insists.
"You're going to be attacked Thursday morning before sunrise," I proceed to reiterate all of the information I just received. "The compound, the house and a bunch of warehouses."
"How did you find this all out?" Dad asks incredulously.
"Last name is O'Connor but they might use Montgomery as an alias," I ignore his question. "They're based in Boston so watch out for any Massachusetts license plates."
"Isabelle, what have you done?" Dad practically whispers.
"Don't say I never did anything for the family," I reply before hanging up on him.
He calls back immediately but I put my phone on do not disturb. I set a timer for the body to dissolve and lean back in my seat.
"I think you're a villain," Ryan nods slowly. "Like actually."
I shrug, "someone has to be."