112 Endless Deaths POV (2/2)

I cry and cry, but only a unwavering monster heard me. It does not forgive, and it does not forget.

Father has said so. He has said so!

This is my punishment. I must endure it. I must. A promise of being reborn when all is said and done, but only if I can endure.

I am so sorry. I am so sorry!

My hands shakily reach out to him, grabbing his attires, pulling on them, pleadingly.

Anything. Anything else, please. Just don't torture me anymore.

”Please, Mr. Maxwell. Don't torture me anymore… I will do anything else. Anything else.”

I implore once the shock to my mind and body have subsided briefly.

He remains unmoving. His eyes stare at me without any emotion or remorse. Those aren't the eyes of a normal person. Unending darkness swirls within them, telling me my torture has barely just begun.

”I think I like you the best when you are being slowly roasted alive, Miss Oxford. Hmmm… have you ever eaten human meat before? I ask because I suppose you will have no choice but to. Don't worry, it tastes somewhat like red meat. The very kind you have enjoyed so lavishly with fine wine throughout the years.”

He remarks calmly despite the dreadful suggestion. His words fill me with utter horrors and haunting imageries.

I would never eat human meat, no matter what.

That is cannibalism! It is disgusting! Disgusting!

He also reminds me of when I had died.

I did die in the burning limousine after getting hit by a tanker truck, right? I recall what happened very clearly, just before I found myself here, wherever here is.

The only visitor I get in my confinement is my father.

My father!

But sadly, father did not speak about where I am or what is going to happen to me no matter how many times I have asked.

Father speaks very little, but at least he speaks more than the people who had brought me foods and keeps me clean. It is as if they dare not to talk to me on the account of him.

Instead, those people pity me greatly, sympathizing with my situation because they know more than I do. I did not fully comprehend the reason until I finally learned of who I had tried to kill.

Maximilien Maxwell.

That name etches into my being and burns into my soul. A monster of terrifying proportion. The things I have done pale in comparison to what he has done and will do.

As powerful as father is, he is merely footnote in contrast to this man. This monster of a man!

I am terrified. Father is terrified. He had embraced me in tears, for himself and for mother. It has been so long since father has given me such an embrace.

The last time father did, I was probably 8 or 9 years old. That was more than 20 years ago.

That seems like a long time, but everything comes and goes in a blink of an eye.

What have I done with my life? Nothing. Nothing at all. Even if money can buy anything and kill anyone I have desired, I have achieved nothing in the end. Money? Power? Wealth? Prestige?

It is all meaningless. Meaningless! Meaningless before him.

Before Maximilien Maxwell.

And just like all the times he has spoken previously, the entire floor and enclosed walls and even ceiling heat up and glow red, burning my arms and legs.

Unlike him, just sitting there, completely unconcerned, I scream in pain and immediately jump up from the floor as the flames erupt all around me, threatening to set me alight.

No, not threatening to! They did set me alight! As well as everything else in the room.

The entire room has been engulfed in flames! Everywhere I see is flames!

My clothes burn along with my once beautiful golden hair. My skins blister under the extreme heat as my blood boil, cooking my organs from the inside. I couldn't breathe as my lungs become charred and filled with black smoke. My vision swim just before I collapse onto the floor. My body cracks, breaking off flakes of roasted flesh.

I let out a wailing groan as darkness creeps in from the edge of my vision. And once the darkness finally blocks out everything, light pierces through it, bringing me back to reality.

”No. No…. Nooooooo! Please. Please stop! Please stop. No more, no more.”

I plead and plead, grapping onto him, but his face remain expressionless. I just want this to stop. Please make it stop before I go insane.

Insane!

”Anything. Anything, Mr. Maxwell. I know. I know. I will make you feel good.”

I utter hastily. He is a man. Yes, he is a man. A man has needs, has needs! They all do, all of them. And I am beautiful, just like mother was. I have so many suitors that I couldn't count them all.

”Make me feel good? Please, you don't know the first thing about me, Miss Oxford. How can you make me feel good? And if you think your beauty can move me, you are gravely mistaken. Beauty is a gift, and as a gift, I can take it away.”

My eyes widen at his words.

And like he had just said, my beautiful golden blond hair shrivels, turning grey and then white. My pearly white skin become wrinkles and veiny. My vision becomes blurry with extreme age.

”No. No. No! Please God, no!”

I shout and kick the floors to get away from the monster in human form, but my muscles are so weak and my bones have become so brittle that they shatter painfully. I collapse backwards as my strength left my body. My lungs have also collapsed.

I am no longer a beautiful young woman. I am… I am… I am… what I fear the most.

My heart beats slowly, longer and longer interval each beat until it stops. A tired gasp squeezes out of my dried and husky throat as I close my eyes.

It is probably the most peaceful death I have experienced thus far.

Sadly, it did not last.

The light comes again, bringing me back into the living world to come face to face with him again. I cry and cry, yet death comes repeatedly, in all manners of form. Trucks turn me into bloody paste. Sharp blades turn me minced meat. Gravity breaks all my bones. Toxic fumes tear through my insides.

Again and again. Death comes and goes like a game.

Yet, not once did Maximilien moves from his seated spot. For someone like him, he didn't need to. He only needs to speak up and all shall be done without delay. This is his power – an absolute power that cannot be brought with money or wealth or prestige.

I am scared. No, I am terrified. More terrified than the countless deaths at his hands.

It is because Maximilien finally stands up. A bone-chilling smile returns to his face.

”It looks like the appetizer is over, Miss Oxford. Shall we get to the main course?”