OPENED GRAVES
None is Righteous
"Their throats are opened graves; they use their tongues to deceive." "The venom of vipers is under their lips." "Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness." "Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery are in their paths, and the way of peace they have not known." "There is no fear of God before their eyes."
—Romans 3:13-18
—
DECEMBER 7TH 2039
9:01PM
CENTENNIAL, WYOMING
Damn them! Damn them! Damn them!
Damn them straight to the pits of hell where the Devil himself would dole out the punishment that Esteban couldn't provide in this form!
They had known. They had known that the witch and the Major's mate were one in the same. It was a filthy betrayal. It was a double-cross. It was a sin that God would never forgive for as long as the sacrament of confession existed for those who needed it.
The messenger of the Volturi kings surely needed it, but Esteban would be sure to see that Demetri never received it. Hell was where he belonged. To burn for eternity for the sins of himself, his brethren, and his Kings.
When the dreaded child—their dirty filthy lying errand boy, spreading lies for the Kings who needed to be purged from God's lands the same way that the Major and Maria of Monterrey did, and Oscar Parra and every person who had ever wronged Father Esteban throughout his life—reported that their messenger was already on the way, Esteban had growled and nearly forgotten himself.
Thankfully, he did not lunge at the boy. It would be foolish to forget the sheer power the demon child possessed and he did not want to be caught unaware when the awful sinner arrived. Instead Esteban commanded all of them—the child, the savage, and the girl—to follow him as they strode across the snowy lands and toward the point where he knew he'd find Demetri.
Esteban did not know where the man kept himself, but Demetri was always able to arrive within twenty minutes of a call. If Demetri knew what was good for him he would arrive quicker.
It was absolutely unacceptable that they wouldn't allow Esteban his pound of flesh. They did not understand divine retribution the way that Esteban did. If Jasper Whitlock was to be killed properly, Esteban had to kill her—the girl, the witch, Alice—first.
Just the thought of her brought his fury to a boiling point. He stopped his run in that exact moment and growled at the saint that almost ran into him. Esteban yanked his rosary out of his pocket as he started to pace, growls reverberating loudly from deep within his chest. With as much fervor as he could muster together, despite his fury, he prayed.
Oh Lord, forgive…
No. This was unforgivable. Esteban would not stand for this. Even still, he forced himself to recite the entire prayer as his feet moved and his head spun.
Then, an idea.
Esteban closed his eyes and, with his hand against the rosary, opened his thumb against the canine in his pocket, reveling in the comforting pain. He could feel the venom bead at the top of his thumb before it dripped over to stain the inside of his pockets.
Help me to overcome this weakness, he prayed stolidly, and give me peace of heart as well as mind.
Esteban inhaled deeply, exhaled slowly, and smiled widely, remembering their terms.
They only said he could not kill her. They never said he could not maim her.
Perhaps if Esteban made a good enough case, they would let him keep some piece of her. Maria's Major did not need to know that his mate was alive. Esteban could simply deliver a piece or two of her, tied up nice and neat, another foolish riddle attached to her rotting remains. He could mail off a few pieces of her, and if Major Whitlock incorrectly assumed that she was dead… then the pain of that false revelation would have to suffice.
Esteban sighed, reigned in his smile, and turned back toward his faithful, pointedly ignoring the sinful, wretched Volturi rats behind him.
"Ah, my brothers and sisters," he kept his voice calm, happy to display that just a few moments of calm prayer and careful thought had tamed his turbulent spirit. "I think I have found a compromise to keep both parties pleased." He spoke toward the Volturi boy without looking at him; all he did was turn his head slightly. "I will not kill the girl. I gave you my word, and you have it." That was a deal he intended to keep. The girl's torture would have to suffice. It would be the Major's death that would have to soothe his feral needs.
It was her words that had tempted him into tearing her to pieces only minutes ago. It was her fault that he had almost given up his dream of ruining Major Whitlock's life and ripping it from him slowly, and painfully. The foul sinful woman had given a false confession, and tried to make a mockery out of his faith, out of a blessed sacrament, out of God.
Alice Whitlock would pay for her sins, and the deplorable messenger could take her ruined, defiled body back to Europe with him.
"You can remain here, and tell him just as much as what I have just declared when he arrives. You will know where to find me."
It was the savage boy that moved to step forward; the child held him back with only a flick of his wrist. The girl behind them both had begun to shake again—she'd been crying since young Xavier had been allowed to sate his desires—and Esteban was eager to be free of her. He yearned to pluck her head from her body and wondered what noise it would make; whether it would be a meaty tear like human flesh, or a screeching grind like theirs.
The alarm on the savage's filthy brown face almost kick-started Esteban's anger up again.
"Do not get in my way," Esteban spoke, stepping forward with a flick of his hands. The sound of his disciples arranging themselves behind and around him gave him the confidence to bare his teeth. The witch-child's ability be damned, Esteban would not let the Volturi stop him without a fight. "Do not come to me unless your messenger is with you. From there you can have the girl."
With that statement, Esteban turned back toward the direction of the two homes, and started to run. Retribution was his, and God help anyone who stand in his way.
A/N: Sorry that updates have been so inconsistent. Thanks to everyone who has been sending me messages on Tumblr or leaving reviews here. I appreciate each and every one of you.
From this chapter on, the most graphic scenes are behind us. But there will be constant reminders of that torture and abuse for the rest of this story, as well as continued descriptions of altered mental states and other various triggering content, so be prepared to read mentions of it here and there for the next 80k. If you are unable to do that, please do not read this story. Heed the tags. Take care of yourself.
