Lights flickered rapidly in the basement area below the warehouse.  A lantern rested on a side table, providing a consistent light source in case the breaker was tripped.  In front of him was a metal bed frame that currently restrained a naked middle aged man, Arthur McKenzie.  Arthur’s arms and legs were tied off to the ends of the frame in spread eagle fashion, preventing almost all movement.  With his head covered in a brown mesh sack, faint sounds of uncontrolled sobbing could be heard as the man physically shook from the pain he had just endured.  Looking down, he saw that the electrode was still being held in place around Arthur’s penis and genitalia with a rubber band. 

Arthur McKenzie had been a trusted member of the family.  Arthur had lived a good life and enjoyed the “benefits” provided by one of the strongest crime families in Detroit.  Beowulf had met Arthur’s wife and children during a summer picnic and they appeared to be the epitome of the perfect family.  Arthur had been a trusted business manager, working directly for Yukihira, the right hand man of Tranquility.  As Beowulf looked down on the broken man, the same question continued to come to his mind, “Why?”

Just a week ago, Arthur’s world had been perfect, or so it seemed.  That’s when the dominos began to fall.  Apparently, Arthur has a weakness for a raven haired Italian married woman.  And being caught in the act of having sex with a married woman by her husband can have some real ramifications.  Arthur thought he had lucked out when he had used his ties with the family to keep from being killed immediately by the irate husband.  The husband wanted a big score on cash for his “emotional damage” as he stood over the cowering business manager.  Arthur said he knew of a high stakes dice game that was played and it would be easy cash to simply rob the men.  Now, Beowulf could see the bruising where the husband had kicked and beaten Arthur as he cowered on the floor.  But Arthur felt lucky that he wasn’t killed and had avoided a “close one”.

Then Lonelywolf was killed.  The heist had gone terribly wrong and the nervous husband, with trembling hands, had killed Lonelywolf in cold blood.  The other gamers had subdued the husband after the first deadly shot, but Beowulf’s friend and ally was dead.  The husband, fearing for his life, shared every detail of his wife’s affair and the information Arthur had provided.  The husband was killed before he left the alley location and thrown in a dumpster.

Beowulf had volunteered to resolve this matter.  Soseki had reluctantly agreed with the single condition “Make it slow”.  Now he looked down at a broken, sobbing man.  Fifteen minutes into the torture, Arthur had lost control of his bodily functions and the strong smell of urine and feces filled the air.  Arthur had stopped crying out for mercy 30 minutes into his torture, finally broken from the pain.  But the debt was not paid for his friend’s murder.

Charred areas of flesh could be seen around Arthur’s neck area as the first location that Beowulf had applied the electrode that was affixed to an 18” long wooden handle.  When the electrode made contact, you could hear a popping sound as flesh was literally cooked on the man at both the entry point of the electrode he held and at the exit location which was the electrode connected to Arthur’s penis and genitalia.  The body was over 90% water and made a perfect conductor of electricity.

Arthur was unable to see when Beowulf approached with the mesh sack covering his face.  Numerous times, Arthur had flinched and cried out in anticipation of the electrode being applied, but even that had stopped eventually.  Beowulf had randomly applied the electrode at alternating intervals to keep Arthur in a constant state of terror.  Beowulf had justified the brutality of this torture in the beginning by thinking of his friend.  But now that the man was obviously broken, he had lost his resolve.

Leaning over, Beowulf whispered “Arthur, I’m done.”

A week voice responded “Oh god.  Pain.  It hur….”

Arthur never saw the large knife plugging point first toward his head.  Beowulf had targeted the nasal/eye area and felt the impact as the tip of his eight inch long knife bowie knife entered the eye socket and struck the back of Arthur’s skull.  Arthur would feel no more pain.

Beowulf heard a noise from the shadows where two of the younger family members were standing.  One was now leaning over, vomiting up his lunch after having seen his first murder.   Beowulf wiped off his knife on Arthur’s shirt that was lying on the floor before saying “You two, get this cleaned up and the body disposed of at the dump.  Richie is already there and has a pit dug for disposal.  I want this place completely wiped down and it better not smell like shit when I return.”

One man responded “Yes Sir” while the other suffered a second round of vomiting.  Beowulf walked up the stairs and into fresh air.  He had hoped for satisfaction at torturing Arthur, but what he felt was remorse.  Arthur had made bad decisions and paid for it.  The husband had made bad decisions and paid for it.  Lonelywolf had made bad decisions and paid for it.  This left Beowulf asking “When do I pay for my bad decisions?”