Praetorian
by Adamus
"I am Khalid," said the black man with the
bald head. "I will be your guide." Khalid’s reflecting sunglasses showed me my
own face, a battered and twisted mask of desperate fear. "Your guide into the realm
of pain." I shivered. Khalid stood a few feet away in front of the worn wooden chair
I was tied onto.
He looked like something that walked right out of a bad horror flick. Tall, dark skin, his
head perfectly bald, not a single hair visible. He was wearing a long black leather
trenchcoat, buttoned up to the top, and a pair of small round sunglasses hid his eyes.
Khalid was smiling, a soft menacing smile. His voice was actually quite soothing and
comforting, and I would have enjoyed listening to him had I not been selected as this
monster’s victim.
I gathered the last of my willpower.
"Fuck you," I managed to whisper, although it lacked the defiance I would have
liked to have put in it.
I was a mess. Most of the bones in my body were either broken or bruised, and somehow I
was unable to use my Vitae to heal my wounds. Earlier I had tried to summon my inner
beast, knowing that Frenzy might be my only chance of survival. I failed. Somehow my
abductors had stripped me of the use of my Blood. It was almost as if I was human again. I
would have welcomed the return of my humanity under any other circumstances.
Khalid kept smiling. "Tsk tsk, no need to employ profanity, my Toreador friend."
He reached out and touched my forehead with two of his lean fingers. "It is best if
you remain silent." Folding his hands serenely before him, Khalid closed his eyes and
concentrated. Suddenly I felt as if my lungs burst out, extreme flashes of pain raging
through my chest as my own blood ravaged my veins. Violently I coughed up blood, trying to
bend over, but the ropes held me close to the chair. Vitae oozed from my mouth as the pain
subsided.
"You may scream of course," Khalid said in a mild tone as he opened his eyes
once more, barely visible behind the mirror surfaces of his shades. I couldn’t scream even
if I wanted to. I was too weak to inhale the air that screaming required. Not that I would
give him the pleasure of hearing my cries anyway.
I could hear a chuckle from behind Khalid. My eyes turned to look at the huge, demonic
creature that leisurely sat on one of the wooden boxes the loft was packed with.
"You find that amusing, John?" Khalid asked without turning towards the demon.
John was a demon. Standing over 6’5", muscles bulging all over his body, his skin a
pale purple, his eyes glowing continuously with a fierce red glare. Two large fangs
protruding from a mouth that always seemed to carry a smug grin on it, his black hair
rough and wild, accenting the horrific features of his face while at the same time
revealing the rows of needles, earrings and safety-pins that decorated his long pointed
ears. He looked like the Elf from Hell, but then worse. All-black, leather-and-chrome
clothing enhanced his threatening appearance even more.
"Yeah, I think it’s fucking hilarious," said John with a voice that sounded like
an earthquake combined with a speed-metal guitar going into overload. Khalid didn’t
respond, but smiled at me again. I mentally braced myself for another ride on the
pain-train.
"We could ask you all manners of questions regarding local Camarilla activities, pump
you for information about havens, leading figures and the local underworld, but we
won’t," Khalid stated. I wanted to ask him why the fuck then he and his monstrous
companion had dragged me from my haven and tied me to a chair in the loft of some decaying
mansion. Khalid continued after a short pause, no doubt meant to enhance the dramatic
effect of his next sentence.
"Instead, we will test the resilience of a random Kindred victim, in order to make a
valid assessment of the tenacity of our opposition in this charming little village."
Bullshit of course. He just needed an excuse for torture. Khalid smiled warmly at me.
"Let us proceed." My vision blurred as new waves of pain hit me, my body
spasming involuntarily as my blood boiled in my veins. I could hear John’s sadistic
laughter echoing through my mind. This was going to be a very long night…