85

                                    

                                          
IDRIS
Idris shot Emilio right in his left thigh. He will not allow his death be easy. What he has done is treason to the highest degree. It is punishable by death. But death in this case must be delayed.
Idris drags the offender down to the cellar where he keeps the rest of the unfortunate captives. The last of such captives has just met his end and is being hauled out by some guards. Now Emilio has taken his place. 
They strip him down to his boxers and tie him up not like the previous prisoner - with hands in handcuffs draped to the wall - but like a patient who has been tied down to a hospital bed for fear of escape. They confine him to a tilt table with arms and legs tethered to the steel frame, as opposed to the straps which usually do the job. Those straps will not be useful in this case. It will only get in the way of the torture about to come.
Idris fumbles a little with a cigarette before placing it in his mouth. He's trying to reject the possibility of Josi dying - but each time he tries to bury it deep, the damned image is there to remind him. The bloodstained carpet, the knife in Josi's abdomen, her weakened body . . . Idris rips the cigarette from his mouth and throws it to the floor. 
He goes up to Emilio with a dagger which he snatched from one of the guards present, then with a hasty grip, begins to cut through the corner of his mouth until the knife has made it halfway past his jaw. 
This doubles down on the pain left by the bullet. Emilio screams like he's never screamed before. His eyes begin to tear up from the torture, his heart pulsing at an alarming rate. But Idris is far from satisfaction. He rips the skin off Emilio's face so violently, the blood within smears his face in spots. Then he takes on a much slower pace. He scrapes the skin until it has all gathers in one spot, until the tissues underneath become bare.
Idris may be right in exacting vengeance, but what he doesn't know is that Emilio has been left reaping the consequences Josi sowed. He lays there helplessly, hopelessly, trying to cope with pain so mind-numbing.
Idris comes to a stop only after much of Emilio's face has been disfigured. He tells the guards to take their time with him, to prolong the torture for as long as they possibly can. Then he leaves for where Josi is at the clinic.
All the while, the restlessness has eaten into him like rust to a ship. He should never have welcomed Alvize with open arms. Now he's dealing with the aftermath. But he alone will not bear the losses of this faux partnership. He will bring Alvize down to his knees. He will make him regret crossing him. He will make him pay.
~《¤》~
JOSI
Josi has not known peace and tranquility for the longest while. She's floating amidst clouds that bring her way too much comfort for her liking. She should not know comfort. Comfort is leisure. Leisure is something she cannot afford in this life of quandary. Still, she craves the feeling, so she succumbs to those clouds. The ease it brings her mind, the calm it provides her body. No muddles. No headaches, no nuisances. This truly is peace.
Then she sees Bradley. Bradley smiles at her. He welcomes her with open arms and tells her he's proud of her. She knows nothing of what aspect he's proud of, but it leaves her in tears. She cries and clings to him because he feels familiar. So much like home.
It all starts to unravel. This is it. Josi has finally moved on to the afterlife. She has crossed over to the other side, and now she has Bradley all to herself. But Josi doesn't mind it. Because here, her true love visits her. He's there by her side, though the legitimacy of his presence is forged. But it matters little to Josi. She wants that moment, that fictitious feeling of bliss, to last as long as it possibly can.