CHAPTER 332: THE SYMPHONY OF SCREAMS.

Xavier screamed the deep kind, the ones that came from his soul and each one fed Kilian like it gave him life.

For Kilian, it was more than just the sight or the sound. He could hear everything inside the scream, every emotion, every memory, every piece of regret. It was like music to him, a melody and each note pulled him deeper into it.

He could hear all the regret, the anger, the suffering, the despair, the fear. Every scream had meaning, he could feel it deep inside him, like every note of pain hit a part of his soul.

Xavier’s screams weren’t just noise; they were confession, guilt, and pain mixed into one.

And the worst of it Xavier understood what he had done. He knew his life ended the moment he betrayed them, maybe even the moment he joined the family. Because once you join, there’s no turning back.

But during the symphony of screams Kilian made a mistake. He lost control. He was too focused on the screaming, too lost in the noise to pull out the real emotion he wanted, the fear, the guilt, the despair... because it suddenly stopped.

Xavier’s body stopped shaking and his head limped back... he fainted.

Who knows if it was because of the pain, the blood he lost, or if his mind just couldn’t take it anymore. Maybe all of it. But that only made Kilian angrier.

He felt it rise inside him, frustration, anger, disappointment. He had gone too far and still hadn’t gotten what he wanted as he stared at Xavier’s face.

He wanted to hear the screams again, to see the fear in his eyes, to smile at him while he suffered... but he didn’t drug him up, and without it, he could do nothing to get him back up, to continue with the live torturing... which was a fuck up... a disaster, to say the least, a strange defeat.

"Oh..." He sighed as he looked at Xavier and the pool of blood around him. He didn’t move; he just breathed slowly, his whole face paling as blood poured beneath him as the table turned in an absurd and strange way.

It was now Kilian who felt... desperate... he lost all will and all hope as he failed to do what they asked from him, what Hector asked from him... to skin him alive and put his face on like a mask.

He failed the only thing Hector asked to do... and second, he failed the meaning of a torturer.

The main goal with it is to cause unbearable pain while the victim is still alive, breathing, and feeling every bit of it... but Xavier was out.

"Fuck." A short, simple word as he realized all of it, that he failed the teachings of Ferucci... how to cut deep but not too deep, to not slice main veins, where to cut to make the worst experience possible, how and what substance to use to keep them alive, how to foreplay with your blade... he failed all of it.

He failed the meaning of a torturer... and in that moment, something had snapped in his already shattered mind.

So with his next move without hesitation he went up to Xavier’s body, unchained him from the chair, and tossed him down on the concrete floor and what followed next was something that came out of a straight horror movie as Kilian grabbed an axe... but oh boy, not a simple axe.

It was a firefighter axe, the infamous red one, and for a long moment he just stared at Xavier, body on the floor, while gripping the axe tighter and tighter, getting angrier with himself and with that little fucker... but then he did it or more so did it many times.

He swung the axe high and wide aiming straight at Xavier’s left arm, at the shoulder, at the joint.

As the axe connected with the shoulder it immediately broke it, cutting into the flesh and bones, but it wasn’t enough to cut his arm down with one swung so Kilian swung again... and again and again, and then... it happened.

Xavier’s left fucking arm was cut down, blood spraying everywhere like a fucking fountain, but it didn’t made him stop because the anger once again took over him.

"Fuck... you!" He swung again now at the right shoulder. "You..." one more swing, now the axe went into the bone "...fucking...." Another big swing. "...bitch!" He did it once again and last.

No left arm, no right arm, he cut both of them down with that axe and it wasn’t just because of the anger though... no, it had a meaning to it. Two arms cut down meant that the person was greedy, reaching too far for something he couldn’t grab, though the meaning of it went away as soon as Kilian once again, being like a bull, swung and struck the right leg of Xavier.

He was butchering him up to pieces, blood spattering everywhere as he breathed faster and stiffer with every strike... he was repeating, he was doing the most to erase his fail... but then something stopped him mid-swing.

A ringing phone... and the absurdity of the ringtone which was a light violin play and for some kind of reason he answered it... he picked up the phone while dripping in blood, while looking at the severed arms and legs in front of him.

"Yeah, this is Kilian." He said as he did have the chance to look at the caller.

"Babe, where are you?" The soft and innocent voice came through the phone... his wife.

"Oh darling, I am still working." He answered without hesitation as he now starred at Xavier’s dead eyes, just looking straight at him.

"You promised Leila that you would take her to the theater... she cried, you know." Now her voice turned to a colder one, a disappointment.

"Fuck...I’m sorry babe, I totally forgot it."

"Well, it is her you need to apologize to, not me, and anyway why are you working this late?"

"Ah, an intern fucked up so I needed to rework the whole thing, you know." He said as he still eyed Xavier’s eyes. "But I will be home shortly, okay? So go sleep, darling."

"How many times do they fuck up?" She raised her voice. "Why don’t the company kick them out? You’re working overtime for the eighth time this month alone." Yeah, she was angry about it, about something she didn’t even truly know.

"They fuck up suddenly darling, you know how it is, but don’t worry we’re having a deep clean so my schedule will be family-friendly." He said with joy in his voice... joy that, well, was true as the cleaning was going on... a cleaning that meant nothing like what his wife thought of.

"Yeah... I hope so. Anyway goodbye, and if you don’t wake up next to me I’m going to beat the shit out of you!" She said and giggled at the end.

"I bet you do." Kilian laughed too. "Bye darling." He said and put down the phone... and what followed was the true horror.

The making of the mask.