Chapter 11: Bouleversant

Not all of Liam's victims had a direct effect upon his psyche. Catarina, he apparently was aware of her cruelty. Miss Moore and Miss Rhoen, I shall not repeat that.

But not everyone was directly cruel to him.

See...

There was this rather...disgruntled old man in the town, by the name of Louis. He said he hated Liam, but then, he hated everyone.

There had been days where he would harass his neighbors endlessly. Always, he would tell them that they would ruin his quiet time, and he would curse them.

It would seem his snappish demeanor repulsed Liam. Louis' remark in the form of "vampire boy" did little to help, either.
I was not surprised that the old man would end up as Liam's next victim. Although...the man was foul, not truly evil.

But I suppose Liam was too far gone to realize that.

When questioned, Liam would state that, he knew Louis did not directly harm him. But he was still a nuisance, and those were meant to be eliminated.

Then he changed the subject. He stated that his television set had become broken. He was right, it had shorted out for reasons we could not comprehend.

I was not sure that Mister Swete had any knowledge of fixing such things, but then if he did, he would not be standing in that room.

The results were to be expected. 

Hearing that man's screams of agony were horrendous. At one point, I covered my ears to block out the sound.

The pain was clear. The noise was blood-curdling. And Liam stood there, watching it all. There was no doubt in my mind that he was enjoying it.

Just when I thought Louis had had enough of being shocked, Liam said in such a way that I was sure he was smirking:

"I don't think you're anywhere near done."

Louis had no choice in the matter. He was forced to continue the torturous affair that was fixing our television set.

It wasn't long before his body gave out.

Liam waited, grinning all the while. Louis gave the occasional twitch, but beyond that, the old man was dead.

It was such a horrific sight, seeing him covered in burns and still moving involuntarily.

Such a sight was so appalling, it frightened even the man in black when he made his appearance.

He knew the old man was crotchety and unpleasant, but it seemed he expected a natural death, not...that.

But Liam only poured salt into the wound, claiming that Louis' time was to come sooner or later.

'So,' he stated, 'Why not sooner?'

I simply stood back, beginning to rethink where my loyalties truly lied.

Catarina was heartless, her death was acceptable. Miss Moore and Miss Rhoen, their deaths seemed disproportionate, but Liam did feel personally slighted. Mister Swete never actually bothered Liam, but he was old and his time was to come anyway.

But the last two that died...why?

Oh Liam, why did it have to be them?

(End of Chapter 11.)