Bloodied Thread

"My lips are sealed," The long haired man with grey strands and fangs murmurs, "Til' the day I die and onward into forever, no word of this will get out. Nobody will ever know she was even a person."

The man standing beside him laughs, it is a harsh and cruel thing, one that causes the fanged man to flinch and draw his hand back from the desk he had been leaning on.  The other man--one with tan skin and embroidery driven down from his shoulder to his right hand, threads taught in his flesh--glares at him, and there is flame dancing in his eyes.

"Oh Leoric," He clicks his tongue with disappointment. "You've been dead for a long time now, doll. If you make a mistake like this again, well, I think you know. You don't want to die for real, do you, darling?"

Leoric stays silent, as if to contemplate the answer. Frankly, he did. It would get him out of centuries of suffering, and away from the man before him. Of course, he couldn't say that--no, that would only result in a worse punishment. If he was lucky, all he would get this time was a small flower torn through his ribs.

"No, Endos. I wouldn't dream of it." Yes, he would. "Sorry, Endos." No, he's not.

"That's a good vampire. You know what to do."

The greying man frowns before sitting on the counter, taking off his glasses and setting them beside him. He hoped that what was coming would hurt less if he didn't see it. He tried to think about the events that lead up to this particular punishment. He’d been reckless. Endos wanted Leoric to bring him another “subject.” The woman started fighting and he panicked. It happened so fast, but by the time it was over she was dead. And someone dead is no use to Endos. At least, someone dead enough to need a grave. Leoric was either useful, or Endos just loved to see him hurt. The vampire was beginning to think it was the latter. 

"I really wish you'd stop making me do this, doll. If you would just do better, this could all be avoided, don't you know that by now?" Endos hums, "I mean really, it's all your fault. Perhaps your daughter wouldn't have left if you didn't keep screwing things up."

This sparks something in Leoric, a moment of defiance he knew he would grow to regret. "She didn't leave. She died. And if I'm lucky you'll do just the same." He spits, making sure the words land in their desired tone.

It was true. He wanted Endos dead a hundred times over again. He wanted Endos to suffer as much as he did. He wanted Endos to writhe in pain. 

He sat there atop the counter, inhaling sharply as the man forcefully pulled the first thread through the flesh on his ribcage. Endos may have numbed the others, but he never numbed Leoric. Leoric figured that Endos thought that someone needed to scream, and he was unlucky enough to be nearby. Tears threatened to escape his eyes, but he wasn’t willing to give the man torturing him that much victory. After the first petal on the daffodil was done, Leoric could feel the magic that was in the threads beginning to coil around his mind just like the snake that decorated Endos’ arm. Halfway through the second petal and he fell into mindlessness. Usually the thread Endos used on him wasn’t enchanted. That meant whatever he was doing would require cooperation he knew Leoric wouldn’t give him. He couldn’t be afraid in the state he was in, he couldn’t feel anything. One thought and one thought only went through his mind, in Endos’ cold voice: Sit still.

Sit still, sit still, sit still, it echoed. When Leoric came to his senses there was a horrible aching against his ribs and…his mouth. He tried to ask what Endos had done, but the only thing coming out were muffled whimpers. Not only could he not speak, but Endos was nowhere to be seen. So that’s what he needed to enchant him for. One by one, the lights cut on. Fluorescent and burning, like the sun was trapped in the basement with him. It hurt. This time the tears did fall. As the last light cut on, Endos became visible in the doorway, twisted grin plastered on his face. 

“Oh dear, look at you…” He coos mockingly, grin warping into cruel laughter, “Well, you did say your lips were sealed. I’ll be back--eventually. Have fun!”

Just like that Endos had disappeared up the stairs, his humming echoing down into the basement until the metal door slammed shut, locked. Leoric tried to scream, to beg forgiveness, but it was of no use. He went on, crying and trying in vain to scream, and after about half an hour it all became too much and his world was plunged into darkness as his head hit the counter, glass crunching beneath his weight. He had passed out, and that was a blessing he hoped would stick until the other turned on the lights. 

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It wasn’t any surprise that only a month after the incident Leoric had enough. He had knocked over a glass while setting down some supplies on the metal counter in the basement and it broke. It happened fast, but this time it wasn’t an accident. He took one of the glass shards in his hands as Endos yelled at him-- and took it straight into the man's left carotid. It happened so fast, but it was no accident. 

Leoric kneeled over the body and closed its eyes, he had enough respect for him to do that. His voice was low but his words were deliberate.

“If the gods wanted you to live, they would not have created me, doll.” He says in mocking toward the corpse. “Don’t worry, nobody will ever know I did this. After all, my lips are sealed. Goodbye, Endos.”