Page 6 of The Carnage We Keep

My eyes dim.

A dull, cold sensation throbs in my veins as I bare my teeth.

“All jokes aside, you pedo rapist piece of shit,” I growl at him. “I can’t wait to draw this out. I’m going to lower you into that acid slowly. I’ll wait until all ten of your toes burn to the bone before I even get your ankles wet.”

Carl whimpers as I reach over and give the two tourniquets I’ve already fastened around his thighs a good tug, checking their tightness.

“Wouldn't want to have you bleed out before we dip your balls in that lovely green acid, now would we?” I hiss.

My eyes narrow to murderous slits. My lips pull into a dark, gleaming grin as I reach for the knotted rope on the railing next to me.

“I want you to think about every single child you hurt when the acid starts to burn your flesh, you motherfu⁠—”

“Who the fuck are you?”

Shit.

I don’t typically get caught off guard. But I’ve been so wrapped up in memorizing the sheer terror on Carl’s face that I somehow do not hear the man walk up behind me until he growls those words.

My pulse skips as the scene freezes.

“Whoever you are,” the man says in a deep, velvety baritone that sends shivers down my spine, “you need to turn around slowly and show me your hands.”

I mean, I could do that. But instead, I do something that I haven’t done in almost ten years.

I drop to my knees, and I start to cry.

2

DAMIANO

Before I know it, the short, dark-haired girl falls to her knees and starts weeping.

“Please don’t hurt me!!”

My brow furrows. “Okay, calm down⁠—”

She starts to sob harder.

“Uh…please calm down?”

The tears turn into a deluge.

Fuck.

“Look, I’m not going to hurt you. I’m not part of this place⁠—”

“Oh, thank God you’re here!! Thank you Jesus!”

Fucking fuck.

She whirls on her knees and throws her arms around my legs, crying louder, and shaking, and carrying on with the “thank Gods” and “praise Jesuses”.

Shit. She thinks I’m here to rescue her.

Unfortunately for her, I'm not.

Look, it’s not that I don’t have empathy.