THE ORDER OF KORES

Nege

"I know a pretty great guy. His name," Kores paused as he stood before us, toying with the chopsticks that I'd been using to eat my prawns since I didn't want to get my fingers dirty. "His name..." he continued, "is Kian, and Kian owns a circus, and he's phenomenal at what he does. Oh my, you should see his work, wife," Kores moved the straw of grass with his teeth.

"He's a good artist, the best at his craft. But...there's a thing about Kian and Kane that's not like me. You see, they," he walked towards Adam who was being held down by one of those men in suits that had been standing around the place. Adam stared wide eyed in horror at Kores, repeatedly asking what he did wrong. "...don't like to leave a mess. I, on the other hand, am careless in that regard. See, to me, my wife, the messier it is, the better. I want blood everywhere, guts everywhere, to the point where even when you close your eyes, you can practically taste it."

I was crying, but I found myself glued to my chair as I watched one of the men walk towards Kores who had now stopped behind Adam. Whatever the man handed him, he kept it hidden from my eyes.

Sable eyes connected with toasty topaz eyes, and Kores raised an eyebrow. "Have you ever smelled burning flesh, wife?" he asked me, and I felt my blood freeze. I found myself shaking my head slowly as he lifted his hand and then revealed a blowtorch, "It's a strong smell, never really leaves you. Once you smell it, it sticks onto you, clings onto your nose hairs, settles into the back of your throat so that you can taste it, seeps into your pores so that no matter how much you wash, you can never really get the stink off. Did you know that, wife?" he asked as he lit the blowtorch and it made a loud noise.

I let out a panicked screech, ready to flee but suddenly I found myself being pressed into the chair. One of his men pressed me down by my shoulders, keeping me in that chair as I began to cry, "Kores, no, please!" I begged, my heart racing a million miles a minute as a fear unlike any other coursed through my veins.

I watched as the man who'd handed Kores the blowtorch, ripped Adam's shirt, exposing his partially hairy chest. Adam began to fight some more, screaming, "no! Please! No!" Adam began to plead in fear of what was to come.

A part of me thought that this couldn't be true, that this was some twisted crazy dream that I was experiencing. Because how in the hell is this actually happening? What is actually going on here? What the hell is this, if not for some crazy made up scenario from the darkest and most twisted parts of my mind? Something this crazy, fuck, it couldn't be true.

"Have you ever smelled burning flesh, wife?" Kores repeated as he danced the straw between his teeth and grinned at me, that dimple of his showing. I met his eyes with my own wide, petrified ones that resembled nothing but horror. I could feel the scorching hot tears on my cheeks, as I looked at him with teary eyes, praying that this was some sort of...sick twisted joke. He raised an eyebrow, dropping his voice an octave into this dark tone that I've never heard before, "would you like to?" he nodded his head as I whimpered, crying, "mm, I bet you do."

The guy who had been grabbing Adam by his shoulders now grabbed Adam by his face, forcing Adam to look up. Adam screamed, "no! Please! I didn't do anything!" he screamed as Kores lit the blow torch again. I watched as Kores brought the flame to Adam's face and suddenly the air rung with a pained yell unlike anything I'd ever heard before.

Kores brought the blowtorch directly to Adam's eye and I swear I heard a pop, as Adam let out screams that felt like they came from someone who was burning in the deepest depths of hell.

And then came that smell that he'd been speaking of, and suddenly I screamed and screamed, thrashing in my seat in the horrors that were now taking place.

"Don't you dare let her go!" Kores yelled, pointing a finger at the man who had been holding me to the chair, forcing me to sit still. I had been sinking in the chair, sinking to the ground. The man hurriedly grabbed me and set me back on the chair. "She will watch everything!" He continued, anger laced in his voice, poorly handled anger that suddenly erupted.