Because you were right

"Fuck being pure."

Drayce closed his eyes and squeezed the trigger, and again, and again. The sound of the gunfire was amplified by the small confines of Frank's living room. The rapturous sound of vengeance was music to Drayce's mad ears.

With a deep sigh, Drayce opened his eyes to gaze upon the aftermath of his revenge. To his surprise, there was no triumphant red mist. No satisfying silence. No dead body. Instead, the slugs he fired hovered in mid-air, frozen in time inches from Frank's eyes.

"I can't let you do that, Drayce," Fiona said with an extended arm, holding the bullets in place.

"God damn it! No! Let me have this, Fiona!"

Infuriated, Drayce pressed the barrel of his gun against Frank's temple. He tried pulling the trigger, but it was stuck, just like the bullets.

"No! Fucking die!" Drayce shouted, tossing his gun to the side.

Drayce's mind fell into complete madness. His anger overflowed with the fiery passion of a thousand suns. He punched Frank's face over and over again, beating him mercilessly. Fiona pulled Drayce off Frank and held him tightly.

"Let me go!" Drayce demanded.

"Not until you calm yourself! You're hurting, I get that, but I won't stand here and watch you damn yourself in a fit of rage."

Drayce struggled. "Why the fuck do you care?"

Fiona released him and spun him around. Her eyes locked on his. "Because you were right. You are more to me than just a plaything.

Her words struck him to his very soul, snapping him out of his psychosis. "You... mean that?"

Fiona smiled, "Yes, I mean it. I deal in seduction, not lies. Remember? You are the closest thing to a friend I've ever had." She held Drayce in her arms again, this time not as tight. "Let me take care of him," she whispered in his ear.

Drayce looked at her with tear-filled eyes. "I want him to suffer, not have the pleasant send-off you have in mind."

Fiona wiped a tear from Drayce's cheek. "Do you remember what I told you when you asked what happens when I take a soul?"

"Yeah. You consume their energy until nothing is left. So?"

"The process takes a very long time. Imagine being trapped in a cell for decades with no way out. In the cell, insects slowly eat away at your body, stinging and chewing at your flesh. Even when you're nothing but bones, they continue to chew at you, and you feel every bite. That is precisely what it's like when I consume a soul."

Drayce envisioned what Fiona's scenario would feel like. It was not vicious enough, in his opinion. Still, it was far worse than anything he could do to Frank.

"Besides," Fiona smirked, "who said anything about a 'pleasant' send-off?"

He did not know what she had in mind, but Drayce knew from the wicked look on her face that it would be far from pleasant. "Fine," Drayce grumbled.

He knelt down and grabbed Frank by his bloody collar. "Enjoy your stay in Hell!"

"Fuck you!" Frank mumbled through his swollen, bloodied mouth.

After one last punch to Frank's battered face, Drayce stood, leaving him to his fate. Fiona's eyes glowed red as she waved her hands. Frank was levitated in mid-air and then engulfed by a portal that quickly closed, removing him from the room.

"Where did he go?" Drayce asked.

"My lair. This place is inadequate for my plans."

Fiona turned to Drayce. "Go home. You do not want to see what happens next. I'll come to your apartment the moment I'm finished."

"Just make him suffer," Drayce said coldly.

Fiona summoned a portal. "Promise me you'll wait for me at your apartment."

Drayce nodded. "I promise."

Fiona smiled. She stepped through the magical portal, leaving Drayce to his grim thoughts.

Drayce's tormented mind had plenty to digest. He left Frank's house for his apartment. He would wait for Fiona as he promised.

*****

The magical gateway disappeared above Frank; he fell to the floor. He looked around, unsure of where he was or how exactly he got here. He had to find a way out, and fast.

Before he could get his bearings, Stacy, the red skinned devilkin, pounced on Frank and sank her razor sharp teeth into his arm.

"I see you've met my pet," Fiona giggled over Frank's screams as she entered the room.

"Help! Somebody help me!" he cried out.

"No one will hear you. This place is sealed by magic; no way in or out without my approval."

Fiona snapped her fingers. Stacy released Frank and heeled at her Mistress' side like an obedient Doberman. Frank struggled to move, writhing on the floor. Fiona extended her arm with an open palm. Frank rose off the floor and gravitated to Fiona's hand, his throat docking in her firm grip.

She examined him clinically. "You look appalling. Drayce did a fine job on your face. I'm sure he would have beaten you to death if I hadn't stepped in."

"What are you? What is he to you? Whatever he's paying you, I can pay more. I know people, important people. I can get whatever you want. It's yours -- just let me go!"

"Drayce is very special. I have spent centuries looking for someone like him. Nothing you have is more valuable than him."

Fiona released her grip. Frank flew through the air towards the back wall of her lair. He slammed against the wall with a loud thud, helplessly pinned. Clothes shredded away from his body with a wave of Fiona's hand as if his garments were only wrapping paper. Then, leather straps sprang to life, binding his wrists and ankles.

"Comfy?" Fiona asked, curling her lips in a vicious smile.

"Wha- What are you going to do to me?"

Fiona sashayed to the wall and gripped Frank's quivering chin. "First, I can't have you looking like this. Don't mistake this as an act of kindness or mercy. I want your body pristine so that I can admire my handiwork when I'm through with you."

☆