Page 30 of Scar

Leon takes hold of my hand, I wonder if he notices that I haven't eaten a bite? I bet he has. He notices everything about me. "You don't have to go with me, I promise you. I won't feel any differently about you if you back out." He says calmly.

That is reassuring, but I don't know if I would feel the same about me if I backed out. I also don't know if I'll ever feel the same if I don't back out. Will I still be me if I sit back and let people die? I don't think I'll still be me if I help kill people.

"I'm going." I say confidently. I'm not sure if I'm going to help him, but I'm at least going with him. I don't even know where we're going. I walked straight into the house to take a shower last night, and I know I sat in there for far too long. The water was cold by the time I got out, so I really have no idea where he took those guys. "Okay, fleur. No pressure." He says. He squeezes my hand lightly and resumes with his breakfast. I'm still not sure how he can be so calm right now.

By the time breakfast is over, I'm a fidgeting mess. I know these guys, well kind of. But they know who I am. It's just now hitting me that they're going to beg me for mercy. I don't know if I could hear that. Maybe I'll just run when they get to the mercy part?

Leon guides me down to the basement. I thought at first that we'd go somewhere, but he unlocks the door that I've never been in. It's the only room of his house that I've never seen. Once the clinical white lights turn on, I'm glad I haven't. It's cold. Metaphorically and actually cold. Everything is sterile looking and stainless steel or white. The only color in the room is the four men heavily strapped to cold metal tables. They're thrashing and yelling about how we're going to die, and don't we know who they are.

"Shut up!" Leon snaps. If I was talking, I'd shut up. Heck, I even straightened my posture when he yelled. "We're going to have a chat." Leon says calmly. Yet again, I'm reminded how cold and terrifying Leon can be. But I'm glad it isn't toward me.

"Fuck you!" One of the guys yells. I don't even know his name, I just know he's on the football team and his dad is rich. Likebuyyou a country type rich.

Leon does a little "tsk" but doesn't respond otherwise. He walks further into the room that he'd locked behind us. "You can have a seat, ma petite fleur." He says calmly to me. His hand trails down my cheek as he does so in a gesture that is sweet despite where we are.

So, I do. I take a seat at a small rolling stool that I assume is for him to rest his leg on while he heads into one of the large cabinets along the wall.

"What do you think, my love? Should I start off with something small like cuts? Or are we playing with fire?" Leon asks, his focus on me. I gulp, unsure of what answer he wants from me. "Untie us you stupid bitch!" Mark yells, turning his head to look at me. "That's not very nice." Isaytohim.

I'm not the one that tied him up, and I'm certainly not the one who raped a woman. "Fuck you! When I get out of here, you're fucking dead! I'll fucking kill you and fuck your corpse, bitch!" He yells. He even goes as far as to spit on me. Leon hands me an antibacterial wipe and runs his knuckles along my cheek to check on me.

"I'm okay." I promise him. Leon turns to look at Mark, his face terrifying and cold, like a mad man stalking his prey. "Threaten to harm my girl again, and I will set you on fire and make her a fucking s'more with the flames of your body. I will use your pathetic cries and screams for mercy as music to slow dance across this room with her. Do not test me." He informs him. Even I gulp at that.

"What's your plan?" I ask Leon. He turns and smiles down at me, his knuckles still gracefully tracing my cheekbone. "I want them to tell me what they did to Abby so I can decide how they die." He explains.

"That bitch? She asked for it!" One of the guys yells. Leon's mask slips, and the cold face he wears is back as he stares at the men. "Asked for it? You mean by simply existing as a woman in your world? Or for going to a party that you attended? I know for a fact you had to bribe her friend to spike her drink since she was smart enough not to take a drink from strangers." Leon explains. The same guy scoffs at his reply, and I know that infuriates him. "Burn." I chime in. What am I saying? I shouldn't be participating, but these guys so far seem like total jerks. Leon smiles at me, heading into his cabinet of tools.

Leon proceeds to light a blowtorch. He drags it along these men's bodies while they explain what all happened that night. It takes far too long to get answers from these guys. But every time one screams, another answers the questions Leon asks out of fear.

Somehow, I'm more sickened by their storytelling than I am of what Leon is doing.

He's leaving blisters along their chests, their forearms, the bottoms of their feet, their knees. The smell of burning flesh fills the room and a somewhat black smoke hangs in the air above us. He leaves a burn so severe on one of the guys that his screaming stops completely, he stares up at the ceiling with a dead silence that hangs over the rest of the group. "Jack! Wake the fuck up!" Mark yells, looking over at his friend. But Jack isn't dead I don't think, I think he's in shock. Another one even throws up from the pain. That was gross.

Nothing is nearly as sickening as these men somewhat proudly telling the story of how they spiked Abby's drink and dragged her to the basement of this party and had their way with her.

One even brags about her trying to limp home in the morning, but too sore and too beat up to even walk, so she gave up and laid on the floor under the stairs in an attempt to hide from these men.

I want to be sick just from hearing about this. I want to hug Abby and never let go of her. It's sick how little shame they have for what they have done.

When Leon told them that Abby was on suicide watch because she feared she was pregnant, one laughed, another said he'd take the baby and give it to his mom. Respectfully, I don't think his mother is suitable to raise a child considering how he turned out. What is wrong with these guys?

"Which one of you spiked the drink?" Leon asks calmly. "It was Tony!" Mark cries out immediately. "Fuck you! It was you who paid the bitch to spike it!" Tony yells back. Leon slams his hand down onto the table while the two bicker. "Enough!" He yells. Both instantly fall silent. "Since you can't decide. I'll treat you all equally." He says calmly.

It blows me away how calm Leon can be during such a strange time. I'm doing everything I can not to throw up from the smell of urine, throw up and burnt flesh. Yet he's just standing there with the same composure that he would if he were standing in line at the supermarket.

Leon ends up putting what he called an "IJ" into their necks; he says that's different from an IV. I don't know. He's the professional here. But he hooks them up to something in a glass jar. "Since you wanted to drug Abby's drink, we're going to let you all sit and enjoy this nice little concoction I have for you." Leon says calmly.

"What is it?" I ask curiously. Leon smiles at me, and I melt at the look I'm being given right now, like I'm the entire solar system to him. "It's embalmingfluid, ma fleur. They will suffer an excruciating and somewhat slow death. Their organs will slowly shut down, maybe even melt. Their tissue will break down, their veins will burn until they're uncontrollably bleeding into their own bodies, their lungs will fail and their brains will shut down." Heexplainsto me.

I raise an eyebrow at him, like the stuff they put in bodies to preserve them? How does he even get a hold of this stuff? It makes me nervous, but for some reason,turned on that he'sso resourceful. Maybe I am sick. Leon said in the shower the other day that I have something dark in me, maybe he's right? Maybe I am twisted like he is. Maybe the twisted and dark parts of ourselves can fit together.

"This will take a while, possibly days. How about we head upstairs?" Leon asks me. I nod, feeling uneasy about their suffering, but somehow also feeling lighter that they paid for what they did to Abby. "I will handle their bodies. You never have to see them again." Hepromisesme.

I stand up and wrap my arms around his waist, hugging onto him while the men scream out in agony behind us. But their suffering is on deaf ears when Leon smiles at me like I'm the center of his universe. "I love you." I finallysaytohim.I feel like maybe I've felt this for a while. Maybe I've known all along and just refused to admit it until now.

In a way, this feels like a fresh start.

Chapter 42