My Last Night

When the sun set and the day gave way to the night, Florentin donned the Doctor's clothes, his coat, his gloves, and more importantly, his mask. He'd already killed several people. He'd kill again. There wasn't a price too high if the outcome in the end was eternity — a life without death.

They said to beware of Manta Carlos's dark corners, because bad men roamed the streets at night. The Doctor may be wearing surgical pearly white, but he was no victim. Where were the hunters and where were the prey? The teeth painted on his mask didn't discriminate, and he'd bite anyone that came close enough.

And there was a target. He'd heard her name before when he was checking out Student Council booths way back. Maddie, Maddie something. What a cute name. What a cute girl. Little girls like her made this whole gig way, way easier. As soon as she passed by his alley, Florentin nabbed her by the arm, covered her mouth and put a knife across her throat.

"Shh, shh... Don't struggle. You'll make it worse for you if you struggle," he told her, voice distorted from the voice modulator built in his mask. He walked backwards and kicked back the side door to the empty building nearby, hiding inside to make sure anybody who saw him nab her would find nothing but an empty alley. He watched the window carefully, and he was sure she did too. He heard footsteps approach.

The stranger stopped by in front of the door, but somebody was guarding it. "Excuse me, sir, I think I just saw somebody grab a girl here...?" the stranger asked. The tall imposing man, who looked very much like a bouncer, shook his head and scooted the man away. Before the girl could even muffle her scream, the man was already walking away, unsure if he really saw or even wanted to get involved with what happened.

Oh, Sasha. Two heads were better than one, when it came to these things. When she gave him a kick, Florentin held his ground, and pressed the knife deeper into her throat to the point it was slicing the skin a little. He'd noticed the fur beginning to form on her skin. Well, that wasn't going to do at all. "Feisty, aren't you? This could've been easy..."

He pulled a syringe from his jacket and stabbed it into her arm. A sedative, enough to make limbs weak but keep the victim fully conscious and perform minor movements, like talking or moving their hands. Florentin was starting to acquire a taste of that, torture and murder. What would it matter if he had a little fun with these things? Who would even know? Dead was dead. If the body was a little more banged up than usual, it was still dead. When the coast was clear, he picked the girl up in his arms almost gently and put her at the back of his car with tinted windows.

Sasha got in the driver's seat, and Florentin sat at the Passenger's. He pulled the mask down. His voice was much lighter and sweeter compared to the modulator. "I wish I could assure you it will be fast, but it probably won't be."

Florentin raised her face and dabbed the tears away delicately with a handkerchief. When he was done, he pressed a kiss to her forehead. He caressed her cheeks and smiled. Even with the atrocities he's committed, Florentin still looked like an angel. "Mon cheri, you've got such a lovely face. Do not cry. Your eyes will become as red as your hair if you cry. That won't do at all, no, no." He tsked and rubbed her back. "Have you ever stories of the serial killer, The Mad Doctor as they would call him, in Manta Carlos?"

He patted her down for identification. As he did so, Sasha made a misleading turn towards the Underground to trick people that were possibly following them. Florentin fished out her phone and wallet. He broke the phone apart, and used a black marker to cover her face and name on her Student ID. In the back of the ID, he wrote down "PN#0007." Patient #0007. He smiled.

"They say the Mad Doctor, dressed up as a doctor with a terrible grin —" He raised his mask a little to show the grin, "— would hunt for prey at night for vicious experimentation. Often, his victims would wash up in the river, disfigured to the point of identification. His trademark was that all of his victims would share a Patient number branded on the back of their left shoulder." He placed a hand on her left shoulder. "0007."

Sasha dumped Maddie's identification near the Drug Bakery. If he could blame the gangs for it, then Florentin would be safe. Sasha started taking the longer route home.

Florentin looked at her, at this entire situation, and tried to search for a part of him that cared. Nothing. Nothing since her death, since the brief surge of guilt he felt at claiming Professor Augustine's life. He should feel disgust for kidnapping, and later on, torturing and murdering a little girl. But he didn't! He didn't. He couldn't feel anything other than the overwhelming anticipation of things to come. Florentin held her close and rubbed her back, shushing her, rocking her back and forth. "I'm sorry things had to turn out the way they did. The fact of the matter is, life doesn't discriminate between the sinners and the saints."

He wasn't sorry. Not really. In fact, he felt entitled to this. Life hurt him all those years ago, and he felt anger at innocent people, those who never had anything taken from them. He wanted to hurt them, to feel the same things he did before he took their lives. Was that really so wrong?

Maddie vomited on his coat, but thankfully, it was waterproof. Florentin smiled sheepishly at Sasha. "It's not as dirty as the other things, my dear."

Eventually, they reached his home. Sasha parked at the garage, and Florentin handed the girl to him. "Take her to the basement. I must change." There, the two parted ways for a bit, Florentin into their bedroom to change into his lab gown while Sasha took her to the basement. The basement/laboratory was a lot different from the rest of the house. There was a section of the lab that was a glass cage with a bed, and near it were countertops with bubbling chemicals, scientific tools and torture materials. Sasha tied her up to an operating table, where the cuffs specifically negated magic.

Florentin went down, looking much like a regular science student. He tied his hair up and put on his gloves, ordered Sasha to prepare the hot iron meanwhile. He went over to Maddie. "This doesn't have to be as unpleasant as you imagine it. I can be quite hospitable, and I can grant you small requests. Do you want anything while you wait? Lemonade? Iced tea? Or maybe you're a coffee person?"

Poor girl. She must've thought it was over, but it's only just begun. Death wasn't the final stage in the cycle of life! It was undeath. Little did the girl know that was what was in store for her, a cycle of death and undeath, with interludes of pain in between. It was unfortunate, really. He wished he could make it quick. This wasn't all pleasure; it was science, and he wished to learn in the end.

Florentin, though not a mind reader, knew many of his victims were the careless, forgettable types, and often have never been kissed. He decided to do her (and himself) a favor. He bent over and kissed her with an almost deceptive tenderness, and though he was wicked, his lips were soft and he smelled like fresh lilies. He unshackled her wrists as he kissed her and sat her up.

He took off her jacket and top, undoing her bra, and threw it all to the side. And then, he took the hot iron from Sasha. Sasha held her upright as he branded her shoulder: PN#0007. He made sure to get it nice and deep so it would never heal despite the abuse he was going to put her body through.