His eyes were cold and lifeless as he stared at me. “You have no idea who I am, do you?”His voice was so full of hatred. And this hadn't even started. Simply awakening in a dim gray cell tied to a chair is not what I'd call a proper start, anyway. The whole situation seemed taken straight out of a bad joke.
I let out a good laugh at it. “Why do you think you're here, boy?” I let him think about it for a moment. “Well, I'm sure your father will give anything to get you back.”
“Fuck.” He mumbled under his breath, before raising his voice. “No, you idiot, he will DO anything. He'll call the authorities. You're mistaken if you think you can get away with this.”
This time it took all my self-control to not laugh again, but I didn't want to spoil the surprise. The young man was a nobody. The son of one of the city's big fortunes. Neither of them was ready for this. For meeting me.
Still, I couldn't hide a smirk. “That's if they find us before it is too late, don't you think?”
Nobody would look for him. His father would of course try to pull some strings, but he would just hit closed doors. I had made sure of that.
“Listen, you idiot. You do anything to me, and I'll make sure you regret it.”
I got in front of him. My face mere inches away from his. The jerk kept staring coldly at me. It was almost cute. I gently grabbed his chin, staring deep into his soul. “So, what are you going to do, exactly? Tell them what I did?” I grinned.
“I'll ruin that thing you call a life, I swear.”
Again I had to drown the laughter. Idiot. No, you won't. You don't have that kind of power. I drew a knife. Started fidgeting with it right in front of his eyes. “How, exactly?”
Something changed in him. Something inside him seemed to realize this was serious. That his empty threats wouldn't do anything for him. Yet you can't really erase thirty years of having everything in a single second. “My father will take proper care of you, you'll see.”
I brought the knife to his throat. “And... how, exactly?” I smiled at him. “Now, tell me. How much is a life worth? How much is yours worth to him? Do you think I can get away with asking for a hundred million?”
I had done my homework. That was about everything he had. Of course, he had many friends, willing to lend him whatever he needed - for a price. You don't get to ask a favor from... certain people and not come to regret it.
The young man swallowed. “You won't get away with this. The authorities will find you long before you get to even ask for the money.” His voice was still coldly sharp, but now was starting to falter.
“So... let me ask again. How will you keep your word, if daddy loses everything? Because... you know, that's exactly what's going to happen. But wait, I totally forgot. I need to send a note, don't I? ... How else will daddy know what I want?”
“You're wasting everybody's time if you think... if you think we have that much.”
I let the blade crawl over his arm, reach his hand, while I circled around him, until I was right behind him. I let the knife rest exactly over his pinkie's first joint, gently enough that he could barely feel it. “Boy, you think I don't know what I'm doing? … Counting everything, that's about all he has. But, enough chit-chat. He won't realize how bad this is unless I send him your regards, don't you think?” With a flick of my wrist, I hacked off the tip of his pinkie.
He let out a pathetic scream. As if that was the worst thing that could ever happen.
I got in front of him and showed him the chunk of his own flesh. The blood staining my hands and dripping all over him. His face turned white, his eyes tightly closed, in vain trying to deny what was before him. He started mumbling. “Fuck, no, no, please... Don't do this, please....”
I ignored him and went to put the fingertip in a plastic bag, ready to be neatly packed and sent. Then I came back to face him. “Now, now. Did that hurt?” I took the bloody knife to his chin. Forced him to look up at me.
Silence. Tears.
I couldn't help grinning. “Well, I'm... sorry-not-sorry to tell you this, but I don't want you bleeding out, so...” I dug into my pockets for a couple seconds, until I found the lighter. Flicked it open and alight like a street magician performing a cheap trick. “So I have to stop it, boy.”
He kept sobbing and mumbling, until I took the flame to the stump. Then it was all screams and the stench of burnt meat. It took a couple minutes for the soft flame to fully cauterize the whole wound. Well, I guess it was nearly done in about thirty seconds, but, better safe than sorry. It's not like I was trying to play nice.
Once done, I got back to the side table. “So, a hundred million, then? And... say, another chunk for every day he doesn't pay?” I grinned at him as I packed the note and the plastic bag into a padded envelope. No return address, nothing. The old man wouldn't have any way to contact me. For now.
The idiot was still sobbing like a kid when I cut the ties that kept him in place. Then I left, locking the door behind me. That parcel wasn't going to deliver itself.
