A/N: Don't read if you mind reading about torture. Well, it's not THAT bad, but still. Fair warning.


Cleon of Kennan blinked slowly, his eyes adjusting to the light around him. The horrors of the times before returned slowly. How long had he been out? A long time- a day, maybe? No, more like 20 hours or so. Looking down, he saw that he was still chained to the bed. He let out a gasp when he saw that the figure was standing near him, on one side of the bed. This couldn't be happening. There was no way...

"Neal?" he whispered.

"You know, Cleon," the ghost said, green light still shimmering around him, "I used to think you and I were best friends. The Goddess granted permission for me to return to the mortal realms, for one day. There are so many things that I'd like to do...talk to Kel, my family, meet up with some old friends. But of all the things on my to-do list, killing you had to be at the top." Cleon's gray eyes grew wide.

"But-why?" he said in a whisper.

"Cleon, I thought I knew you. I had no idea that the first thing you would do when I died was to make a move on Kel- "

"I DID NOT!" Cleon exploded with anger. "It's true that I have always loved her. When you and her were lovers, I was always green with envy. When you died, I tried to let her grieve on her own. But she wasn't doing too well. We were all so worried about her. Then, when the heiress died, I thought it might be my chance to be a "better" friend to Kel. Neal, you have to understand: A year had gone by! You have to move on in life. You can't just stand there watching your good friend and object of your affection wither away piece by piece. I was just trying to help her!"

"Hmmm..." said Neal thoughtfully. "Good point. But, no matter. I'm going to kill you anyway. It's time for revenge." He smiled evilly. Cleon let out a bloodcurdling scream. Anyone within palace grounds could have heard that scream. It was just too bad that not a second after he started, Neal put a silencer spell on him. His long fingers reached out, emerald green magic flowing from them like a river. "You like that, Cleon? You want more?" Neal had put another spell on him. It made Cleon feel like he was being compressed into a Chinese-take out box. His face scrunched up in pain, he managed to kick Neal in the leg (Although very lightly-his legs were still chained to the bed.)

"Oooh, fiesty, aren't we?" Neal said with an evil grin. He drew some pointy silver objects out of his pocket and moved closer to the bed. With a wave of his hand, he undid the silencer spell. Cleon, still experiencing horrible pain, managed to choke out some words.

"You don't scare me, bitch," he snarled.

"I don't? Then maybe you would like to hurt a little bit more?"

"NO! Please no!" Cleon choked.

"All right then. Maybe a little break for Mr. Kennan, here." Neal released the painful spell. Cleon let out a sigh of relief. "Time for a little bit of questioning."
The silvery objects still glittered in his hands. As he moved them closer, Cleon could see that they were needles. He groaned.

"We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. The easy way- I ask you a question, you tell me the truth. Or, you can pick the hard way- I ask you a question, you lie to me, I stick a needle in you, then make you tell the truth anyway with my handy little spell. Got it?" Neal looked at Cleon. His eyes sparkled with anticipation.

Cleon gulped. "Yeah," he choked out.

"Good. Why did you steal my girlfriend?"

"I DID NOT!" screamed Cleon.

"Bad choice. Well, I warned you, Cleon." Neal took one of the extremely sharp needles and jammed it into Cleon's stomach. Cleon let out a wince of pain.

"I-I was telling the truth." He stammered.

"Well, the truth just isn't good enough, is it?" replied Neal. "I'm tired of this silly little game. Let me just kill you now." Neal waved his hand to silence Cleon. He stuck the rest of the needles into Cleon's body quickly, as Cleon's face once again scrunched up. He then used a bit more magic, and an EXTREMELY high pitched sound played, audible only to Cleon. *Hmph* thought Neal. *Good work. He'll be dead in an hour.* With that, he left the room and locked the door, heading off to speak with Kel.

*******

AN: Yes, a person can die from the effects of exposure to extremely high-pitched sound for a long period of time. I know this for a fact. I just love killing off Cleon evil g don't you? Neal is awesome. Next chapter coming soon (I know, I know, thatz what I said the last time, and it took me 2 months...) Review please!!! And email me too if you want!!! :-)