The air hung hot and heavy with sulfur, fire, and the sounds of the tormented multitude screaming for relief as Adrei was escorted into the room at the back of the Hive by his master, the demon, Gohran. The demon's grip tightened on Adrei's shoulder, black-painted claws digging into the Pierrot's skin, drawing beads of red that immediately soaked through his white blouse.
"I thought you might be bored staying in my chambers all day Pierrot," the long-haired demon explained, his lips grazing the shell of Adrei's ear as he spoke. Adrei, to his credit, did not so much as shudder. "So I brought you here, to Firiel's quarters so that you could watch him work. He does beautiful work...I bet you might learn something from him if you pay attention," Gohran continued, releasing the Frenchman's shoulder, his claws trailing down the length of the human's arm as he strode over to a plush chair in the center of the room.
Adrei followed Gohran obediently, glancing up from the floor only once to stare at their surroundings. They appeared to be in a theater. 'A torture theater' Adrei thought as he stood quietly beside Gohran's chair, his well-manicured fingers resting gently on the arm of the chair, against Gohran's side. And it really was a theater...rich, wooden stage, dark tapestries, pitch black curtains and all. Adrei started slightly as the curtains rose with a mechanical clanking sound.
The Pierrot stared in horror as a spotlight ignited, focusing on a young woman...no...possibly a girl...she couldn't have been older than nineteen at the most...standing in the middle of the stage. She surveyed the crowd, holding adamantly still in her place despite her body trembling with obvious fear. Her gaze settled on Adrei, a fellow human, and she began to sob. Adrei shook his head as the woman in purple began crying.
'Non....non that is the worst thing to do...They love it when we cry...' Adrei thought, wishing he could break his silence and yell it to her, tell her that she needed to
stop crying right away or else...
"Firiel said that this woman was a musician, part of a goth-rock band. Not a very good one, mind you Pierrot," Gohran laughed, latching his hand around Adrei's wrist and tugging the Pierrot to the side of the chair. "This show is going to last a while. Sit with me," the demon ordered, patting his lap and smirking as Adrei did as he was told. Oh how Adrei
hated it. "Her entire band quite literally sold their souls for fame, like many musicians have done in the past," the demon continued, wrapping an arm around the mute human's waist. "Too bad they didn't wish for a better security detail. This one died after being stabbed during a run in with an obsessed fan. Curtains for her," Gohran chuckled.
"Ohhh I like that line," a second voice, one that reminded Adrei of nails on a chalkboard over the sound of an angry cat, hissed.
"Oh, Firiel, there you are!" Gohran said, waving lazily in greeting as his friend, a moving, pulsating mass of blackness with two glowing eyes, slithered away from the curtain. The woman on the stage flinched. Adrei frowned. "I thank you again, brother, for allowing my pet and I to watch you work."
"Think nothing of it Gohran. You know how performers love an audience," Firiel laughed, sliding up behind the terrified woman. Large claws, black like his body but tipped in terrifyingly bright, blood red, wrapped around the woman's throat, leaving bloody lines in their wake. "Tell me, my dear Pierrot, do you think she'll go silent too after I'm done with her?"
Adrei, as usual, did not respond. He simply stared at the woman with empty teal eyes, the woman shutting her own eyes tightly in response.
Firiel snickered, running his index fingers up her cheeks until the tips of his claws reached the bottoms of her eyes. "I certainly hope not...It's always a shame when a songbird loses its voice," he said, digging the pointed appendages into the corners of her eyes.
A shocking, pained, high-pitched scream pierced the air, muffled seconds later by Firiel's other fingers as he covered the woman's mouth.
"No no no no, shhhh shhh shhh
shhhh my dear. There's no reason to cry. It's just a bit of blood," Firiel oozed, tracing his claws along the lines of her eyes, drawing more blood and severing important nerves and fibers in their wake. "Certainly a very tiny amount. But...on the plus side, at least this means you won't have to see the rest of it when I
really get started."
"Pierrot, I command you to watch. Observe and learn how beautiful it is when a lovely woman is covered in blood," Gohran said, smirking in amusement as Adrei unwillingly complied, his gaze never leaving the woman's face. "Listen to the sweet symphony of her cries my lovely clown...tell me that doesn't make you...shiver..."
Sadly, it did. Adrei shivered in horror as he listened to the symphony Gohran described. The chorus of the damned.
