Oh crumbs.

He grew dizzy as Monte tightened his grip around his nose and mouth, making it harder and harder to breathe. Each second felt like an hour, and each movement drained what little energy he had left.

They were alone in a dark hallway at night. Everything bad happened in a dark hallway alone at night. Why hadn't he been more prepared?

And that's when Moxxie remembered .

I am prepared.

Kicking with his right leg, he managed to knee Monte in the groin, buying him enough time to break free and take out his handgun, pulling it out of his coat pocket with one swift hand motion.

"Fucking bastard!" the man shouted with fury and anguish, "You're going to be paying for that!"

Finger on the safety, Moxxie stood up and called out over his shoulder, hoping for some sort of response as he inched closer to their cabin door, "Millie, I need some help out here!"

His attacker laughed sadistically, "She can't save you now. Not until she wakes up."

"How do you kno-" he paused, "What did you do to her?!"

If this fucker laid so much as a finger on Millie…

The shock was enough to get Moxxie to stand still, allowing Monte to step in and take the gun out of his hands.

"Nothing. Just helping her sleep, that's all." Monte smirked, "Not that it matters to you anymore."

He didn't…

You're going to regret saying that, fucker.

Come to think of it, Millie had been sleeping deeper than usual right before he had left. She wasn't necessarily a light sleeper, but usually a poke on the shoulder was enough to wake her up. She had been more tired than usual after dinner. Millie had gone days without sleeping before, and to be all out of energy after their trip to the boiler room was very out of character.

His vision blurred with rage, forming fists with his hands and ready to unleash hell on the lowlife that dared touch his wife. Nobody messed with the people he cared about and got away with it, not like this.

"Fuck you!" Moxxie shouted, charging at the man with his bare hands.

Big mistake.

Monte was much, much stronger than his lanky build let on, throwing Moxxie into a wall headfirst, a white flash filling his vision as he made contact. Pain shot up through the back of his head as the impact settled in, like being whacked with a hot frying pan.

Smash!

He felt drywall in his face, blood pouring down his cheek.

"H-Hey-!" Moxxie gurgled, more blood pooling around his tongue.

"Quiet down,' Monte stomped on his windpipe, "Or I'll go harder."

No mercy was shown, Moxxie instead greeted by another slam into the wall, this one knocking him out cold, while his esophagus feeling like it had just been thrown into a blender and shoved back down his throat.

Slam!

The last thing he remembered was desperately trying to call away, spitting blood out of his mouth as his attacker carried him away, the world going bright before disappearing entirely.

Monte chuckled to himself as he dragged the unconscious imp towards the designated cabin, all the preparations having been made.

He had been right. Moxxie was an easy target, especially when tired and drunk. Without his ratty wife by his side, picking him off had taken less than two minutes, and he didn't have to shoot him. The little guy had quite the fighting spirit, and had even managed to kick him before giving up. Perhaps if he had gone up against a weaker attacker, the little imp would have emerged victorious.

Planning ahead was one of his specialties, and the pills were working on Millie just fine, knocking her out long enough to get Moxxie out on his own. Having a slide of hand was finally paying off, having been able to slip them into her food at dinner like it was nothing.

She won't know what hit her.

The odds hadn't been in his favor for his plan to work. Simply following them to the cabin was a gamble, risking detection at every twist and turn. He had been lucky enough to overhear them setting their alarm, and was ready to strike once it had gone off, Moxxie emerging from the door right on cue.

The thrill of the kill was something that Monte hadn't experienced in a long time, and even though his target hadn't posed that much of a threat, it still felt like an accomplishment to be bringing him back, like a hunter mounting the head of the day's catch over their fireplace, a trophy to keep.

Every now and then, Moxxie would mumble to himself, some tangent about either his wife or his boss, the words poorly tied together and barely coherent. It was good, though, since it meant that Monte hadn't killed him, as much as he'd like to.

He arrived outside the cabin in a matter of minutes, knocking on the door and waiting for Stella to respond, watching as confused passerbys stared at the body hung over his shoulder. The attention was welcome, as long as nobody with ties to Stolas saw it. That would put the entire operation in jeopardy.

"You'd better have him with you," Stella hissed, cracking the door ajar, "Or else."

Monte smiled, and held the door open with his cane, "Right here."

She let him in, before locking the door behind them and hiding out in the corner of the room.

He placed Moxxie upright in a wooden chair in the center of the room, careful not to let him fall. He wasn't supposed to get hurt until the interrogation started.

Stella bent down and inspected the imp with curiosity and disgust, refusing to touch him as if he had some disease.

Now, he may have been a little too rough with the little guy during their "altercation." There was a generous gash on his forehead, along with bruises up and down his face. A tear in his shirt revealed more bruises on his right shoulder, a deep grey contrasting the red skin that surrounded. One of his front teeth had apparently been knocked out, and his tongue looked like it was bleeding as well. Above his right cheek was another, smaller gash, blood running down from his face and onto the towel that had been placed beneath the chair.

And each injury brought more and more elation into his heart, now taking pride in the work he had done and admiring his work.

Little shit should be thankful he's unconscious.

"You weren't supposed to kill him!" Stella shouted, waving her fist in his face, "We need him!"

"Relax, he's not dead," Monte pointed to Moxxie's chest, which was still weakly rising and falling, "Look, he's alive! See?"

Although I will happily change that if you'd like me to…

Stella paused, before sighing, "Fine. Just tie him up, I don't want him bleeding everywhere."

Obeying the order he had been given, Monte picked up a pile of rope from the floor, beginning to tie knots while Moxxie was propped up against the chair. Knot-tying was another one of his specialties, so he worked diligently and with speed, securing the imp to the flimsy chair.

Once his body was tied up, the next step was securing his hands and feet, which he did by securing them to the chair's legs. Just for fun, he made the knots extra tight, eager to watch him squirm and struggle. The rope left indentations on his skin, the rough material sure to leave him in a world of pain.

He needed an outlet for his own desires of torture, and this little imp was going to be it.

Rest up, Moxxie.

Because when you wake up.

You're going to be mine.

All mine.

Just the thought of watching him suffer was enough to keep him going, leaping with joy at the prospect of finally having power over somebody again, their survival in the palm of his hand.

Hmm, maybe I am a monster.

And maybe I like it.

"And what exactly do we do if he doesn't crack?" Stella asked, "Or if you kill him before we can get anything?"

"Don't worry, he'll crack," Monte laughed, "And if something happens to him, we just keep picking off more and more of Stolas's little pals until he finally comes running to us like a mouse to a trap."

"I like the way you think. More goodies for us."

"You need to have more faith in my work," he chuckled, "You hired me for a reason, after all."

And he was getting paid damn well for it, too.

He hadn't expected to get so much of a thrill out of something as simple as kidnapping an imp, but here he was, giddy as a kid in a candy store. Perhaps torturing would be more exhilarating than killing anyways, able to sit back and laugh as the poor imp cried out for him to show mercy, only to be shown none. It was his dream come true!

Now he couldn't wait for Moxxie to wake up, laying it wait, ready to snatch up his prize. To hear his screams as he was met with blow after blow, his little brain caving into the pressure as he desperately gave them everything they wanted, expecting the pain to finally end and to be let free.

Only to be met with more pain.

He adjusted his monocle, trying to hide the smile spreading across his face.

Wakey wakey, Moxxie boy.

You and I are going to have a lot of fun together.

So much fun.