A Hand in Hell

"Come on, kitty," I trilled as I tugged lightly at the leather leash. The girl clung to the wooden frame of the basement door, her knuckles white with the tightness of her grip. "The sooner you come, the sooner we can get this over with," I said pleasantly, and gave a final, harsh jerk. Her fingers slipped from the door frame, and she staggered down the first few steps, but I caught her before she could fall.

"There's a good girl," I chirped, smirking down at her. She struggled to free herself from my arms, shoving at me and hitting me weakly, but I just tightened my hold around her until she went still, her face twisted in anger and pain. "Maybe you will understand how pointless it is to fight me one day," I remarked as I lifted her easily into my arms and started down the remaining stairs. "You seem to be following pretty well so far." I smirked down at her, and her eyes widened just a bit more to display her fear as we stopped beside the glinting steel of the operating table. "So, are you ready to tell me all about your closest friends and family yet?" She shook her head stiffly but kept her lips tightly pressed together, and I shrugged, my cruel smile never fading. "Suit yourself, baby girl. This way'll be more fun for me, anyway."

I dropped her none too gently onto the table, and a metallic bang rang hollowly through the room, followed instantly by the sounds of her renewed struggle. She kicked at me and twisted onto her front, trying to crawl to the edge of the table, but I grabbed her shoulders and flipped her onto her back with another hollow thud. She continued to fight against me, kicking and punching and even trying to bite my arms, but I merely chuckled and lay my body across hers to limit her movements.

"Come, now, girl," I purred. "We just talked about this. You know that fighting me will do no good." But she let out a shriek and redoubled her struggles, and I sighed, disappointed. "Fine," I mumbled, barely able to hear my own voice beneath her screams. "We'll just do this the hard way, I suppose."

My body still across hers, I forced one of her wrists into its shackle and secured it there, my movements deft from the months I'd spent doing this exact action time and time again. Her other wrist was next, and I ignored the sharp sting of her nails digging into my forearm as I pinned her hand down and locked the cuff around her wrist.

The deed done, I straightened, pulling my torso from hers. Her legs still flailed and kicked, and I sighed as I watched them, not looking forward to the task ahead. "You really should calm down," I said wryly, turning my gaze to her terrified face. She'd stopped screaming by now, but her mouth was still open, as if a shriek was just waiting to burst free at any moment, and I eyed her warily. "The second you kick me is the second I tear your still-beating heart from your chest and keep you alive to watch and feel every bit of it." Her kicking slowed to a weak thrashing, then her weak thrashing slowed until she was still, looking up at me with scorn in her bright eyes. I laughed lightly. "I didn't expect it to be quite that easy," I told her as I walked to the end of the table and took hold of her feet. "Maybe you really are catching on." She said nothing, merely continuing to glare at me as I secured her ankles in their shackles, smiling back at her all the while. "I feel like I should remind you that we don't have to do this, you know," I said as I started toward the head of the table, my fingertips trailing lightly along her legs as I passed. "As much as I would love to get into the real torture and get you screaming in that way that I so adore, there is an easier way to end this little tiff of ours." My fingers found the soft cloth of the shorts she'd borrowed from me, and she began to shake her head violently as I slid my hand further upward, beneath her shirt. Such warm skin, so smooth and tender and deliciously human…

"I won't tell you," she said, panic to her voice. The anger was gone from her eyes, and I sighed in contentment. "I won't ever tell you who they are."

"My dear, we've been over this before," I murmured, savoring the softness of her flesh as my fingers trailed up, up, up… "I will torture you until you tell me, and if you choose not to tell me, even when you're moments from death, I will find every bit of information I need out on my own — and you know I can do it." My fingers reached the edge of her bra, one of the only garments she was wearing that actually belonged to her, and a quick pushed the cup up and over her breast. The warm flesh continued to tremble long after the motion-induced jiggle had stopped — her terror personified. I could almost taste it on the air, now, that delectable, sweet sweatiness of raw fear, and a monstrous lust filled me as I cupped her breast. The shirt still just barely hid it from my view, and I tortured myself by leaving it that way, by leaving it just out of reach. "It's entirely in your hands, what happens to you now," I breathed, my gaze drifting to her face even as I pinched her nipple between my thumb and forefinger. Tears shone in her eyes again, and her lip quivered violently. "Choose wisely."

She scanned my face for a moment, her eyes darting about in search of something that likely didn't exist — compassion, mercy, humanity — and when she finally spoke, her voice shook. "What are you going to do to me?"

"Cut you. Bite you. Rape you." I shifted my grip on her breast and squeezed, my nails digging into her skin. A twinge shot through my groin, and I imagined pushing the shirt away, imagined finally revealing her chest to me, and I just barely stopped myself, my hold on her breast tightening to keep my hand where it was. "I'll violate you in ways you could never even imagine."

She stared up at me with those eyes, those wide, bright, beautiful eyes, and I wanted nothing more than to sink my teeth into her flesh and take everything that I could from her. "I won't tell you," she whispered after a moment, after I'd spent nearly a full minute eying her like a slab of prime meat, but there was only fear to her tone, not conviction. She would tell me. Oh, yes, she would.

"No one's going to come to your aid this time," I murmured, leaning close to her face, her trembling lips only inches from mine. "As long as I don't kill you, all the big bad Demon Council will do is watch and wait. You will not escape this time."

"I won't tell," she whispered in that quavering, unsure voice. "I'll never tell."

My fingers slid from her breast and down to her stomach, and I could feel a wicked smile curving its way across my face like the blade of Death's scythe. "Suit yourself, baby girl," I said simply, then claws sprang forth from where my nails had been, and the sharp tips lanced into her stomach.

I leaned away from her when her body bucked, a shriek of pain tearing ragged from her throat. The scents of fear and pain and fresh blood mingled in the air, and I breathed deeply through my nose even as the sticky warmth of her blood seeped along my fingers. It was the very scent of life, the very source of life to me, and I savored it with a sigh as I withdrew my claws slowly from her stomach.

"I didn't even go that deep," I remarked once her screams had died into harsh panting, my tone wistful, my head nearly spinning from the intoxicating smells that filled the room. "If your pain tolerance is so low, perhaps you should tell me now." I brought my fingers to my lips, and a quick flick of my tongue brought with it an explosion of flavor — life itself danced across my taste buds. "I don't even need names. Just give me a few addresses, and this will all stop." Her lips tightly clamped together, she gave a single, decisive shake of her head. A strand of hair fell into her face, and I pushed it back, blood smearing across her cheek from my sullied fingertips. "Suit yourself," I murmured, and placed the palm of my other hand flat against her stomach.

A scream broke free almost before I'd even started, raw energy dancing across my hand to burn her flesh. Her body tried to buck again, but I held her down with little effort, forcing more of that fire-hot power into my palm. She was screaming so loudly that it was beginning to hurt my ears, but I pressed on. "You can stop this," I shouted over her shrieking. "Just give me an address. That's all you need to do. Just one address."

Her scream broke off with a sob, and I could see her shaking her head vigorously even as the rest of her body continued to writhe. I laughed to myself and placed my other palm beside the first, the familiar tingle of energy flitting through it as I began the process anew. Another shriek burst free, stopped only by an intermittent sob here and there, but still she shook her head. I increased the heat until I felt her skin beginning to melt and stick to my palm, until I could smell the scent of burnt flesh heavy on the air, but still she shook her head.

"You can stop this!" I yelled, glaring at her as she still stubbornly shook her head. "Just one address!" But her body suddenly went still, and I drew my hands away from her stomach with a sigh of exasperation, a sound like the crackling of static emanating from my palms as the energy died away. There were two perfect hand prints burnt into her flesh now, blistering and peeling and glistening in the low light of the room like pus to either side of her belly button. "Like I'm going to let you pass out," I muttered, annoyed, as I brushed my hands together in an attempt to wipe the girl's seared skin away and started toward the head of the table. "That'd be much too easy for you." I put the tip of a finger to her forehead and sent a jolt of energy through it, aiming it right for her brain. Sufficiently stimulated, she awoke, and her mouth burst open to emit a horrid shriek even as she regained consciousness.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" I hissed, leaning my face close to hers, my hands on the table beside her head. Her scream died away as a fit of sobbing overtook her, tears pouring down her face, and I rolled my eyes. "Do you have any idea how pathetic you are? We've barely been at this for two minutes, and you've already passed out once and started to cry." But she was a tough cookie, too, there was no denying that. Withstanding that much pain instead of just giving me a few addresses? I had to break her, and I had to break her soon. "Just give me a few addresses. There's no need to keep this up."

"Y-y-you said…I only had to give you…one," she managed to stammer between sobs, and I chuckled.

"Yeah, to make this particular set of pain stop," I said, grinning mockingly down at her. "If you want me to let you off of this table, you're going to have to tell me the location of every last person who would ever think to come looking for you."

She shook her head slowly, sniffling loudly, and I leaned back as the sight of her tear-and-snot-covered face made me gag a little. "I won't tell you," she said, and I retrieved a tissue from the box on the desk behind me. "I won't let you kill them. You can do anything you want to me, but please don't hurt them."

I chuckled, beginning to wipe at her nose with a motherly care that almost disgusted me more than the mess itself. "I've already told you, dear. I won't be hurting anyone," I murmured, balling up the tissue and dabbing at her tear-stained cheeks with what useful space remained. "I'm aiming for serial murder this time around, not torture. The torture is something I'm reserving only for you." I tossed the tissue into the trashcan, and I turned back to find her glaring up at me with wet eyes. I felt my smile grow beyond its natural limits, my cheeks stinging as they stretched.

"I won't let you," she said, determination replacing the weakness in her tone.

I threw my head back and let loose a cackle that echoed throughout the concrete box of a room. "Because you, a little tiny human girl, will surely be able to overpower me," I laughed.

"Yes," she said simply, then her hand was suddenly in front of my face, her nails aimed for my cheek. My reflexes kicked in, and I caught her wrist just as the tips of her fingernails dug into my cheek. The barest sting started, but it was quickly lost beneath the white-hot rage that welled within me. She dared to raise her hand to me?! She dared to free herself in my presence?!

I slammed her hand against the table, angling my fingers so that my claws went right through her upturned palm and clinked against the metal below, and she screamed in pain as she had a dozen times before. "Bad move, girl," I snarled, my face centimeters from hers. "Tell me where they are now, or I will do everything in my power to hurt you even worse than this."

She let out a jagged sob. "Please, just stop!" she cried. "You don't have to kill anyone! You don't have to do this!"

"There is an entire coalition of humans that know of me and want to stop me," I growled. "They're looking for me right now. And if someone raises the alarm over you, they will find out where you went missing and likely find a trail leading right to where we are now. Of course I have to do this, you insufferable skank! Now tell me what I want to know, or you will be in way more pain than this in a minute."

"No," she whined, shaking her head, and a surge of blood lust washed through me. I watched in my mind as I tore her head off, as I strangled her until she couldn't fucking shake her head anymore, as I slit her throat and watched her shake her head just one last time before it lolled lifelessly against the table. "Please, no."

"Tell me what I want to know!" I bellowed, jerking my claws from her hand and raking them down her legs, blood spattering my arms as she shrieked. "Tell me now!"

"Stop!" she shrilled, batting ineffectually at my hands as I clawed my way downward, toward her feet. "Stop!"

The scent of blood was heavy now, heady, but my anger kept my senses sharp. "I healed these once," I said as I gripped her feet, just barely hidden beneath a pair of heels, "and I will not hesitate to take back the favor and inflict the pain tenfold. Tell me what I want to know," I demanded, the tips of my claws beginning to dig in to the tops of her feet, "or I'll make sure you never walk again." Somewhere in the back of my mind, a voice nagged at me, dark and mocking. You know better than to do this angrily, it said. You know better than to let yourself fly off the handle. You know that you're supposed to be calm, cool, and collected at all times. But I brushed it aside and sank my nails deeper into her feet. "What'll it be, girl?"

"Stop," she whimpered, lying limply on the table, not even trying to use her freed hand to release herself, not even struggling a little bit. She only cried and watched me with those wide, bright eyes, and I decided to listen to that damned little voice in my head.

"Oh, is that threat not frightening enough for you?" I asked, a cruel smile spreading across my face once more. I jerked my claws from her feet none too gently and moved to the edge of the table, and my nails dragged through her skin as I tugged her shorts and underwear down to her knees. She was clean-shaven, I noticed as blood seeped from the gashes I'd left and began to flow toward her clit uninhibited. A twinge shot through my groin again, and I swallowed hard as saliva began to pool in my mouth. "How about if I tell you that you'll never fuck again?" I hissed, my cruel smile still in place, as I traced the outline of her pussy with the very tips of two claws. "How does that sound?"

"No," she whispered, her eyes widening further until I thought they might pop out of her skull. "No, no, no!"

I laughed lowly as I bent over her, my tongue dancing across her clit before delving deep into her. I felt her hand coming for me, preparing to shove me away, but I caught her wrist without looking and sighed against her. She tasted just like she smelled — absolutely fucking amazing. "I told you I'd violate you in ways you could never imagine," I whispered once I'd withdrawn my tongue. I placed a gentle kiss on her lips, then leaned back to look up at her face. "If you ever want to feel anything like that again, I'd really recommend that you tell me what I want to know now."

"I'll never feel it again, anyway," she said softly, her voice quivering lightly as she tried to sound strong and defiant. "Not if you're going to keep me here and never let me go."

I let loose a hearty laugh and moved to the edge of the table next to her head, pinning her arm down beside her as I leaned over her pretty face. "Oh, come, now. You and I could be lovers, you know," I said airily, my fingers trailing along her cheek. "I'm actually quite amazing in the sack."

"You're a demon," she countered, turning her face from me, and I pulled my hand away from her cheek with a sigh. "You want to kill my friends and family, and you want me dead."

"Oh, but nothing about not liking girls?" I said curiously, releasing her wrist and resting my elbows on the table beside her head. I chuckled as I rested my chin on my palm and watched her stare at the wall. "Did I actually manage to catch my first lesbian?"

"Bisexual, thank you very much," she grumbled, and my smile widened.

"I'm starting to like you more and more, dollface," I said. "What did you say your name was?"

"Lauren Dexter," she said flatly.

"Mm, well, I hate the name Lauren, so Dexter it is." She sneered at the wall, but I only laughed. "Well, now, Dexter, I don't think I want to kill you after all. If you just tell me what I want to know, I won't even torture you anymore, and I'll leave your lady bits intact."

She gave a single sharp shake of her head. "I'm not telling you. I'm not letting you get to them." My hand drifted downward, a single claw grazing the tip of her clit, and I watched as her entire body tensed.

"Just give me one address as a starter, baby girl," I purred, guiding my claw gently along the edge of her lips, savoring the menagerie of scents that filled the air like the sweetest wine — fear, anger, blood, and pussy. "Just the address of the first person who would notice your absence. If you be good, maybe that's the only person I'll kill."

She turned her head toward me, a flicker of hope at the back of her ocean-blue eyes. "Do you promise?"

"I don't make promises," I said, smirking, "but it's definitely on the table."

A bit of her resolve wavered, and she frowned. "And…And if I refuse, you'll…"

"I'll kill every person you know that I can get my hands on, and I'll tear your pussy out," I said casually, and I felt her whole body shudder as I slipped a claw very carefully inside of her. "As always, it's your choice."

"I…I only have to tell you one, right?" she stammered.

I fought to keep my smirk tame as a thrill of emotion danced through me. Finally, I was winning. Finally, I was in control. "Just one. Just the first person who would notice that you're gone."

The sound of her gulp was loud in the silence of the room, but it did nothing to break the building tension. She searched my face much like she had earlier, but this time, it wasn't a sign of humanity that she was after — it was a sign of a lie. But hell, I didn't even know if I was telling the truth or not. How could she?

"Just one," she repeated shakily, likely in an attempt to reassure herself. "Just one."

"I'll even heal your wounds." Never mind that it would be as much for my benefit as hers. Couldn't have an ugly pet, now, could I? Couldn't have a torture canvas that had already been worked on, could I? "Just tell me where to go."

Another tense moment passed, another moment for her eyes to stare deeply into mine, for her very heart to snap in half beneath the weight of the decision. "Just one," she whispered again. "My roommate would be the first to notice. You should…You should kill her first."

And I watched her strength crumble right before my eyes.

Delicious, non?