HM Mafia Round #7 LYNCH: Into Your Hands

The spirit within the maniac’s form shrieked in ecstasy as it devoured the heiress’s helpless corpse.

~*~

Sated for the moment, the spirit resting in the body of Danny Kincannon seemed to curl up and go to sleep. Danny could feel its presence inside of him, weighing him down like a millstone. Though dormant for the moment, Danny knew the slightest contradiction and the spirit would awaken, torturing his vulnerable flesh with unspeakable pain until the reporter did as he was commanded by the evil presence within.

He took a deep, slightly shaky breath, and looked toward the door. Soon enough Dustin entered, a hammer in one hand and the Reverend, by the collar, in the other. The briefest exchange of nods acknowledged that the respective killer’s duties had been accomplished. Jade and Drend were dead.

Dustin shoved the Reverend hard in the back, forcing the portly man into the dining room.

“Well, it’s time Bob.”

“We held off as long as we could, but…well, you understand.”

“We’d like to thank you for your cooperation, or, should I say, your silence. I’d say you’ll be richly rewarded in the afterlife for your good deeds, but, well, I think we all know ‘Gawd’ has something very different in store for you. I don’t think He’s at all happy with the way you’ve been embezzling His funds, after all. Not to mention standing by and watching innocent people die.”

“But don’t feel bad! At least you lived long enough to see everyone around you die! Well, everyone, of course, except us.”

Reverend Bob backed away from the two approaching men in horror, tripping over a pulled out chair and stumbling. A sharp laugh halted him in his fumbling retreat, and he twisted his short, stumpy neck to face the portrait. De’Lecti smirked back at the Reverend. “I do love to see a proud man fall.”

All pretense of dignity gone, the preacher pushed himself away from the two men walking calmly towards him. He knew he couldn't talk these two out of anything now. His speech, his most useful weapon, now failed him.

Tossing a bible on the ground, Danny smirked at the pitiful man.

"Have any scriptures appropriate for your situation now?"

Dustin chuckled, without a hint of humor, and began mocking the frightened captive, "From the Book of Retribution and Greed, Verses 66:6-66:9.
And low layth the man of cloth,
Expensive and aquired through ill-gotten means and false pretenses.
His charge, zeal, and conviction lost to the night.
Unto his frail body cameth the accusations and lies the liar has spoketh."

Laughing, "And here 'cometh' your accusations."

The first blow caught the Reverend off guard, so infuriated he was at their transgressions against GAWD, and he was sent sliding across the floor, smashing into the wall with a hard thud.

The man, as proud as he had once been, was now reduced to a cowardly disgrace of his former self. His arms raised in a defensive guard against blows to the head, obstructing his view. Had he not been hiding, the man would have seen his sacred, precious bible being ignited. Between the blows, oblivious to their source and knowing only the relentless agony of each strike, the Reverend struggled to speak. It was no easy thing, forming a sentence in the midst of blow after merciless blow, and the Reverend felt sure this was a sign from GAWD himself, that the LAWD was speaking through him in his final hour.

"And so shall the orchestrators of sin, one weaving false lies and prophets in the name of public appeal, the other leading a young generation into the arms of drugs, apathy, and misguided revolutions, be laid down by the hands of the LAWD through their own actions. This house, a place of sin, shall be cleansed of the EE-VIL that resides within. May the demons and devils in their souls consume their flesh until these men are nothing but husks of amorality and transgressions against GAWD. As his bless’ed saint I defy you even now, at my doom, for my faith shall RESURRECT me."

The two men glanced at each other, briefly unsure of how to proceed. The look, scant a few seconds, seemed to have an effect and the Reverend became suddenly hopeful. His salvation was short-lived, however, as both returned their attention towards the sweaty, bloody man before them.

Dustin picked up the bible, now charred and smoldering, and waved it tauntingly in front of Bob's supine form. 'You got anything else to say, Rev? Open your mouth again and I swear I'll shove this down your throat.'

Although the threat was grave enough to Bob, still, he couldn't resist one last retort.

"Your sins surpass all others. Though the LAWDS judgment be swift, Satan's is much more vile. You shall spend an eternity in the LAWD's Disgrace and in Satan's evil arms."

Dustin was quick to make good on his threat, and soon Bob's face was a mess of ash and blood and the tattered ruin of his precious Bible. The Reverend’s jaw worked pitifully in an attempt to expel the pages from his mouth, but one final swift kick put an end to his struggles.

~*~

Danny kicked Bob’s corpse away with a look of disgust and pulled up the chair nearest the portrait, at the foot of the table. The DJ took the seat opposite, at the head.

They fixed on each other with equally malicious stares, the silence broken only by the unearthly laugh of the portrait.

“So. What now?”