CHAPTER 94: THE DEMON WITHIN
The underground facility with the interrogation room was a grim, subterranean chamber, its air thick with the stench of crude oil and dried blood.
As James entered, a chorus of deferential greetings erupted from the burly guards lining the walls, followed by a synchronized bow.
Inside the interrogation room, a woman was bound to a chair, her face a mask of terror. Jerry, James's right-hand man, sat across from her, a table littered with chilling implements.
"How far have you gotten?" James's solemn voice broke the silence.
Jerry stood, his face etched with frustration. "Nothing concrete yet, boss. She's a tough one."
James nodded "And the woman before you?" He asked again.
"The evidence pointed to her as the culprit, but she has long since refused to give up her source," Jerry answered curtly.
James nodded, his eyes fixed on the woman. A cold resolve settled over him, a stark contrast to the man who had left his family just hours ago.
James walked to the seat Jerry vacated. He sat down, his presence alone casting a shadow over the room. He bent his head for a moment.
It had been a long time since he had left this life; none of his friends, not even his brother, had seen him like this. They did all the work for him without making him worry, but this was his wife they were talking about. He had to do this.
He waited awhile, letting the anger take over him by remembering how he felt when he first heard the news. The thirst for justice - it all resurfaced. Then he looked up. His eyes burned with an intensity that chilled the room.
Jared and Jerry exchanged nervous glances, their boss transformed into a creature of shadow. They saw something they knew they would never forget. James's eyes had turned completely red, like a deep furnace burned within their depths.
The two men could barely look at him because their eyes burned from the effort. His aura was chilling and frightening, and his forehead seemed to grow smoky horns. At that moment, he looked like the devil himself risen from hell.
Jared wanted to run, but Jerry held him in place. Jerry could barely hold himself together, he had an advantage because he was ex-military. James turned his gaze back to the woman. One stare made her immediately shout and lower her head, sobbing loudly.
"Please don't kill me, please, I beg you, I will tell you everything you need to know," she pleaded.
James's voice was low, menacing, and overbearing as he spoke. "Start talking."
"Three nights ago, a man I knew approached me, saying he had a job for me. He said it was a very simple job," the woman stuttered as she sobbed continuously. She swallowed and continued, head still bent. "He said all I had to do was place a camera at a strategic position in her ward for $10,000."
"Only?" James questioned.
The woman nodded. "And so I placed the camera. That was all, I swear. That was it."
"So you did something like this for a mere $10,000?" James asked, incredulous. His rage escalated.
The woman nodded, still not thinking she had done anything wrong. She raised her head at the command of his voice to look at him her eyes wide with fear, and the fire that burned in his eyes nearly engulfed her.
She discovered she couldn't move her eyes away from the intensity in his gaze. It was as if she were trapped in a hypnotic trance, and at that moment, she felt herself unable to breathe. She struggled and struggled till she gave up.
James turned to look at his friends, whose heads were bent. He roared for Antonio, who immediately came rushing in with some kind of injection. Antonio looked at his boss, the effect of James's eyes having less impact on him because he was like him, but he still had difficulty getting close enough to administer the injection.
As he approached James, he felt a strange pull towards James. It was as if James was exerting some kind of magnetic force. He tried to fight it, probably because James wasn't trying too hard.
With a surge of adrenaline, Antonio stabbed him with injection at first contact with his skin. James slumped to the ground, the weight of the world suddenly too much to bear.
As consciousness slipped away, James felt a pang of regret. This wasn't the man he wanted to be, but it was the man this situation demanded and neither was this the life he had envisioned for himself or for Diana. But for now, he had a mission, and he would see it through to the end.