Chapter 13: 5 - Revenge is a Dish best served cold!
'Revenge is the naked idol of the worship of a semi-barbarous age'. –Percy Shelley
'Are you not hungry, chef?' The servant asked, picking up the plate of food that had hardly been touched from Hindenburg's desk.
Hindenburg was slouching over his papers, writing furiously and acted as if he had not heard the girl. She loitered unsure of whether to take away the food or not for over a minute, until the Baron bothered to reply.
'Take it, Harimanna. And tell the other servants and order colleagues not to interrupt me! I am terribly busy!'
She curtsied to him and left the room.
The business which Hindenburg was attending to was DeBourgh's funeral arrangements and he was also tinkering with his will. DeBourgh had a large fortune which would have gone to his niece except it was now left to Hindenburg. He had obtained the will from DeBourgh's safe. In his younger life, Hindenburg had been a safe cracker and the trade came back easily to him.
His plan was to alter the will and return it. No one would notice or if they did would be reluctant to argue with him.
A shadow cast across his desk. Hindenburg looked up. The figure was standing in the doorway; the bright light from the corridor prevented him from recognizing the person. The light from his table lamp was also not adequate enough to see his face, yet the height of the person was enough to show that it was a man.
The man walked closer. His walk was familiar to Hindenburg, but it could it be? I thought he was dead!
'You were wrong!' The voice proved Hindenbug's assumption.
'DeBourgh? How? I – we thought you were…dead!' He asked astonished.
DeBourgh laughed scornfully. 'You would!' He muttered under his breath.
Hindenburg hastily hid the legal documents underneath some random bits of paper. DeBourgh had now reached the table but his face was still hidden in shadow. He skattered the papers on top and snatched up his will.
'Hmm…interesting…I could have sworn I left nothing to you…do you know anything about this?' He asked, feinting ignorance.
'I…I can explain…' Hindenburg stuttered.
'Oh don't try to worm you're way out of this! I know what you're doing! I know that it is in your nature to do so! How do I know, I hear you ask.' He lowered his face down to Hindenburg's eyelevel, there noses almost touching. The next sentence DeBourgh pronounced each word emphatically but spoken in almost a whisper. 'Because I can hear you're thoughts!'
Hindenburg winced, not only from the words but also the fact that DeBourgh's face had decayed somewhat. He was struck so strongly with fear that he could not move, or talk.
'Yes…I look rather disgusting don't I?' He laughed evilly. 'But not as disgusting as you, you gros ordure! ¹ What I'm going to do to you, will make you wish- I apologise for the cliché but I'm going to make you wish you had never been born!'
Someone knocked at the door. Not waiting for a reply, they entered. It was a man and a woman, both considerably young members of the order. The rushed up to Hindenburg's desk, Debourgh moved aside for them to get past. They had both been running for a considerable distance and had trouble getting the message out. 'DeBourgh's body had not been found! Some witnesses saw him enter the morgue but no one saw him come out! We've had people search the building but there is no trace…'
DeBourgh coughed to grab their attention. 'Maybe that's because I'm not dead!'
His face had returned to as it had been before he died. To anyone who could not see through the veil of reality he would have looked normal and appeared so to these people.
'Oh!' Cried the girl astonished.
'It was a false letter! Nothing to worry about! Tell everyone that I'm alright and the two of us are just going for a little trip, isn't that right?' He glared at Hindenburg, who was incapable of speaking because DeBourgh was holding his mouth shut through his psychic powers.
The couple accepted this explanation and departed. DeBourgh released Hindenburg's mouth after they had left. He took his opportunity to cry for help.
DeBourgh spun around and physically held his mouth shut. 'Don't even try!' He hissed. Then started to utter a spell on Hindenburg and his world went black.
He awoke to find himself strapped to what appeared to be a dissecting table, his shirt had been torn off and he was sweating profusely under the harsh light. He would have screamed but his mouth was gagged.
The door on his left swung open. DeBourgh approached him attired in a surgeon's uniform, complete with gloves and mask.
'Well! It seems we have to operate! Let me just show you some of the equipment, to put you're mind at ease.' He said mimicking a dentist.
He pushed the trolley, which had formally out of Hindenburg's line of sight, in front of him. Laid upon it were nasty looking knives and needles. DeBourgh picked up a few and started waving them in his face. It was evident that DeBourgh was enjoying himself.
'That's enough of that for now! Josephine!' He called. A bone thief bounded up to him, behaving in the manner of a dog. 'There's a good girl! Can you do a trick for me? The one you do so well! Upon this man!'
The bone thief obviously understood and jumped onto the table. It tore its way into Hindenburg's chest. He struggled on the bindings trying to escape. DeBourgh watched with an evil smile on his face. Hindenburg looked pleadingly at him but DeBough only laughed mockingly.
The fate DeBourgh had condemned Hindenburg was one of the worst conceivable. He would not die straight away, in time his body would succumb to old age. However in that time his mind would be forced into the back of his skull by the bone thief and his body would perform tasks he had no control over. DeBourgh could control him and thus DeBourgh gained the power he had so longed for.
¹German –'Boss.'
² French - 'Fat Bastard'