Chapter Eighteen: A Reluctant Revenge and a Difficult Decision
"Up." Came a rough voice. Zogard's head jerked up. His knees and shins were killing him. He could hardly stand up. He'd been shot in his legs. Elbert and Luitgardt stood up rapidly though, standing at attention.
"I said up!" The voice commanded, grinding his foot into the back of Zogard's knee, causing the Rhinoceros Demon to growl in agony.
"Up. Don't worry, we'll help you stay standing when you get up." The voice said.
Zogard couldn't see the face of the voice. But he stood up, growling in pain as he forced his legs not to give out under him. He could practically hear the man smirking, and he heard light padding as the man walked around to face him.
"Good. I knew you could do it. You need to be standing when our boss comes. He'll be in in a few minutes. Don't worry. The pain will subside. Probably." The man said, walking out of the room.
Zogard's legs were trembling as he heard footsteps coming nearer to the room. He'd never been in a situation quite like this. He'd been in trouble before. He knew that there were plenty of people who wanted him hurt or dead because of the things he'd done. He'd always prided himself on being able to stay ahead of whoever wanted to hurt him. How could he have come up so short this time? The footsteps were getting closer. His legs and especially knees were hurting more and more by the second. He growled as his knees gave out just as the footsteps came into the room and started moving towards him.
"I was under the impression that you would all be standing, showing me the proper respect… Oh, and you're bleeding on my floor? Wow. Just wow. Well, don't worry about it. You can keep kneeling. I'm sure you couldn't get up if you wanted to. Anyway. My name is Evan. You don't need to know more." Evan said calmly, walking around so all of them could see him. Luitgardt gasped.
"Evanthos Magne." The Jackal Demon breathed anxiously, his teeth grinding.
"W-what… What did we do t-to anger you, Sir?" Elbert asked anxiously.
"Do you remember the cute little Hyena Demon you raped a bit over a month ago?" Evan asked calmly. They looked at each other.
"Can I check my Hell Phone?" Luitgardt asked. Evan chuckled. Clearly Charlie hadn't been even the most recent Demon they'd raped.
"Yes. Go ahead." Evan said. Luitgardt went into his pocket and looked through his files, nodding, nodding.
"Ah. The cute little intersex Hyena Demon we raped back outside of that restaurant." Luitgardt said.
"She one of your servants? Or maybe a lover of yours?" Luit asked. Evan kicked him in the back hard, sending him to the ground. He picked up Luitgardt's phone.
"How far back do your records go detailing your criminal activity?" Evan asked calmly. Even after that burst of rage, now Luitgardt's head was spinning, Evan was still icy cool and composed.
"Um… Um… I'm not sure. We-we've been keeping records for a while n-now!
"I think that set of records g-goes back about six months. Every six months, we transfer files over to a flash drive and start up again with a new set." Luitgardt said. Evan nodded. If nothing else, he admired how meticulous they are.
"Very well." He said, looking through the phone. There were dozens of murders, rapes, robberies, beat downs. The trio kept meticulous records on their activities.
And the worst part was that as horrible as what they did was, unless they offended someone in particular who cared to get back at them, it wasn't actually a crime. Evan sighed. Well, now they had offended several someones who would all be more than happy to get revenge on them.
"Here. Write the address of your safehouse and any security measures on it right here. Now." Evan said calmly. Elbert gasped in hopeful relief. Maybe they would be let go if they gave this information.
"Will… Will you let us go if we give you this?" He asked.
"Well, it's not up to me. It's up to my sister. She's the 'cute little intersex Hyena Demon' you raped. You didn't know you'd raped royalty, did you?" Evan asked, seeing the shocked and horrified looks on their faces. How could they have known? Whatever she had been doing there, she had been deep undercover. They never would have gone near her if they had known who she really was.
"You're being brought before her. She'll pass your final judgement. Luitgardt and Elbert gulped, sure that they were beyond dead. She would torture them and then if they were lucky she would kill them.
Zogard wasn't afraid though. He knew of Charlie's reputation for redeeming Demons. Evan did as well. So he wasn't sure that she would choose to kill them. If she did, he would be pleased. But if she didn't, he wouldn't be surprised.
"Alright… So… Normally, I would torture you myself. But… It's not my place to do that. You haven't wronged me personally. I'm going to bring you to the victim of your crimes and she'll decide your fate.
"Lorcan! Lupa! Selene! Come in here, now!" Evan commanded. They had been put on indefinite janitorial duty due to their rather egregious mistake in letting Charlie out of their sight and letting her get raped. But he would give them a chance to partially at least redeem themselves now. They hurried to his side.
"Yes, Sir?" They asked. Evan was silent for a long moment. Should he bring Charlie to his mansion or should he bring the criminals to Charlie? Charlie had Abby and Lyon at the Hotel.
That was enough. He couldn't have them sentenced at the hotel. He didn't know how Charlie would raise them, but he could assume she wouldn't want to kill them if her kids were anywhere near.
"Lorcan, Lupa, Selene. Guard these three while I make a call." Evan said. They bowed politely, blocking the exits and watching the three Demons as Evan left and went upstairs, making the call to the Hotel.
"Hello? Happy Hotel. This is Vaggie speaking. How can I help you?" Vaggie asked politely.
"Vaggie? Can I speak to Charlie?" Evan asked.
"Ah… She's in therapy. But I can go get her if it's urgent." Vaggie said.
"Thank you. I would appreciate it." Evan said. Vaggie sighed. She'd hoped that Evan would let her finish her session for the day and then talk to him. But she went and knocked on the door. She was talking to Alastor today.
"Char… Evan is on the phone. He says it's urgent." Vaggie sighed. Charlie nodded.
"Thanks for your time, Al… Will you excuse me?" She asked.
"Of course, my Dear! I'll see you again later if you like." Alastor said. Charlie went to the phone.
"Hey, Evan… What's going on? Is everything alright? Did something happen? How are you and Skara doing?" Charlie asked. Evan smiled.
"Skara and I are doing great. I suspect she's pregnant, though she hasn't taken a test yet, or if she has she hasn't told me." Evan said.
"What! That's great! I can't wait to be an Auntie! You and Skara make such a great couple! I'm so excited!" Charlie said.
"Is that what you called about?" Charlie asked. Evan chuckled.
"No. I wouldn't have interrupted your therapy for that. No, my men and women caught the men who raped you. We've proven that it was them with their own records of their crimes. They're currently being held in the dungeons below my manor.
"I would like for you to come over and see them. I've told them that you would be the one to decide their fates, but I didn't want that decision to be made in front of your children in the event that you do decide to kill them, which I would entirely understand if you wanted to. Still, I would appreciate it if you would come down and make the decision." Evan said. Charlie was silent for a long moment.
"I understand. I'll be down as soon as I can." Charlie said, hanging up and heading to Delta, who bowed deferentially and drove Charlie and Vaggie to Evan's home.
-0-
Delta had been chosen by Evan to work for him instead of Lucifer. She had been ordered by Evan to act as a guard and general servant at the Hotel. She drove her to the manor, walking her up to the building and escorting her to Evan, who took her down to the basement himself.
"These are the men who hurt you. Zogard, Elbert and Luitgardt." Evan said, handing her Zogard's own gun. It had been loaded with bullets that would be able to harm Zogard, whose skin and skull were extremely dense. Charlie sighed, looking at the gun. She didn't know if she could do this.
She took a deep breath. She looked down at them. Charlie took Vaggie's hand, squeezing it, hoping that the Moth Demon could give her some guidance as to what she should do. Vaggie, who was enraged though, jerked her hand away from Charlie's and grabbed the gun, striding forward and pointing her gun at Zogard's head.
"Di tus oraciones, hijo de putas!" She growled, putting her finger on the trigger, tensing it.
"Stop!" Charlie commanded. Vaggie gasped, pulling her finger away from the trigger.
Charlie had never given her an order like that before. She'd never pulled rank on Vaggie. Vaggie had always been an equal to Charlie, and except for the beginning, when Vaggie had been nervous about contradicting Charlie, she'd always felt like an equal to the blonde princess. But now, she didn't dare disobey. Charlie was so authoritative.
"Give me the gun." Charlie said softly, taking the gun out of Vaggie's hand. Vaggie sighed as Charlie pulled the slide back on the barrel. Zogard flinched heavily.
She pointed the gun at Zogard's head. She sighed though, her hand easing up as she was about to pull the trigger. She looked in his eyes and put the gun up to his head again. Evan could tell that she needed time to process all this before she could make her decision.
"Princess… Stop. You don't want to do this. I can tell. After all, don't you believe that all Demons have good in them, that all Demons can be redeemed?" Zogard asked.
"Doesn't that include us?" The Rhinoceros Demon asked.
Charlie sighed, looking away from him.
"Yes. I've said that before. I… I believed that. But… I tried to give you food. I tried to talk with you and use diplomacy. You didn't hesitate for a moment to beat and rape me. Why should I believe that there's…" Charlie began. But she knew he was right. She couldn't do this. She let the gun fall to her side, turning her back on him. Evan sighed.
"Charlie, I can't make your decision for you. But you were far from the first Demon he's raped, and you were far from the last. It's only been a little bit more than a month. But already, they've raped at least 32 more Demons. And if we let them go, they won't stop." Evan said. Evan didn't tell her that Zogard was limping out of the room, trying to escape. Charlie growled, suddenly feeling enraged once more. She turned around and fired the gun, shooting Zogard through the back of the head.
He immediately fell to the ground, dead. The bullets had been designed to kill even turned, shooting Luitgardt in the head, then Elbert before she could stop herself.
"Sentence completed." She growled, handing the gun back to Evan.
For a long, painfully long moment, she just stood there, panting lightly before she realized what she'd done. She felt unsteady on her feet, nauseous. She'd just committed murder. She'd killed a Demon. She'd always pushed the believe that everyone had some good in them. And just now… No, he'd been trying to use her better nature against her. He'd raped and beaten her. He deserved to die. There was no redeeming him or his friends. Vaggie hurried over to her and helped her back into the manor proper, sitting her down on the couch while she got over her shock. She'd committed murder.
She was just as bad as the men she'd killed. She was a monster.