Mimosa Pudica

"Gah...Aaaahh!"

Screams echoed through the room as more and more of George's fingers bent backward under the deadly gaze of the mysterious intruder.

Katherine searched through her floral top for the cross she had around her neck. With trembling hands, she rose it in front of her, somehow convincing herself that it would protect her. "Get out of my house demon!" she commanded amidst her fear.

A wicked smile formed on Elias' lips and in the blink of an eye, he had Amaira's mom against the wall. She quivered as he trailed his finger along her face, too terrified to meet his blood-red eyes.

"Get off my wife, you devil!" George found the strength to yell as he stalked toward them, but he crumbled to the ground shortly after a loud crack was heard. The knee joint snapped in one of his legs!

"Aaaahhh!" Katherine screamed at the frightening sight only to be silenced by Elias' hand clasping over her mouth.

"I don't want your screams today, it'll get me too excited," Elias started. He slowly took his hand from her mouth, "And you really don't want me to get too excited."

"W-Why are you d-doing this?" Katherine questioned between her sobs.

"Out of love, I guess." He caressed Amaira's hair with a small smile playing on his lips. "The both of you hurt someone very important to me and should be punished for committing such a sin."

He smiled at Katherine and it was so genuine that it was terrifying. "There's no need for you to fret, my dear, I won't kill you. Take it as my thanks to you for giving birth to my Amaira and raising her."

Elias stooped down in front of the profusely sweating, crippled man on the floor. "You'll still be punished though," he told Katherine. "Watching me break every bone in your husband's body is barely a punishment, but it'll have to do."

He stepped on George's foot, shattering the bones in his ankle, but the man gritted his teeth to hold back his pained cries. He refused to give his torturer the pleasure of hearing even a peep from him.

Elias stooped down to George's level and gripped his bearded chin, "Look at you taking the pain like a champ."

"Fuck you," George forced from his bleeding lips before spitting his blood in Elias' face. It surprised Elias that he would be brave enough to even do such a thing given the situation he was in, but what surprised him even more, was that George's blood actually burnt him.

The look of surprise on Elias' face was quickly replaced by a smile and a genuine look of curiosity, "There's Mimosa Pudica in your blood, you know what I am?"

Knowledge of vampires and other supernatural beings was forcefully wiped from the minds of human beings when Elias got sealed a century and a half ago, so he was surprised to see that the man before him did not only know of vampires but also knew who he was.

"I know exactly who you are," George spat. "The monster that devoured Hell!"

Elias grabbed his neck and held him up, "How do you know about that?"

"Kill me," George venomously told him in a strained voice.

"Tch." Elias flung him into the wall and mercilessly broke multiple bones in his body concurrently without even touching him.

"Gahhh!" George cried with blood flowing like tears from his nose and mouth. Elias was getting impatient, but despite the tortures, George kept his mouth shut on the information he wanted.

"George, just tell him what he wants to know!" Katherine cried, unable to watch the scene before her anymore.

"Listen to your wife, George," Elias taunted. "Very smart woman."

Upon seeing that George wasn't going to tell him anything, Elias decided to negotiate a deal. He placed his hand on the shoulder of the heavily breathing man, "Let's make a deal, George. You tell me what I want to know and I wrap up this slow torture thing and just kill you."

"I promise I will make it as quick and painless as possible."

George's silence spoke volumes, he was obviously not going to talk. Elias sighed, "When did humans become such stubborn creatures?"

His red eyes fell on Katherine and her entire body froze with fear and immense horror. Her heart hammered violently against her chest while she crept backward as he slowly approached her. "P-Please d-don't hurt me," she stuttered out when her back hit a wall.

Katherine clenched her eyes shut preparing for the worst that never came. She hesitantly opened her eyes to see only his outstretched hand before her and a friendly smile spread across his handsome face.

"Would you be so kind to undress your husband for me?"

"W-What? N-No," Katherine stuttered out, even though she was in no position to refuse his commands.

Elias placed his hand on her leg and applied a bit of pressure to his touch before threatening her. "I told you I wouldn't kill you, but that doesn't mean I would hesitate to break both your legs if you don't do what I say."

He offered his hand, "Now come undress your husband."

Katherine disregarded his outstretched hand and got up from the floor on her own accord. Her entire body trembled as she made her way over to her husband; she fell to her knees before taking his sweaty face in her hands.

Her warm tears wetted his face causing him to wake up after passing out for a bit from the pain. "W-Who is this man? What does he want from you?" she anxiously questioned her husband, but he was barely hanging on to his consciousness.

"Do as you're told, Mrs. Hendrix," Elias started. "I'm not a very patient person."

Katherine's trembling hands fumbled over the buttons of her husband's bloody dress shirt as she undid them. Horror took her features when she saw the black and blue marks all over George's body and some bits of his bones sticking out from under his skin in some areas.

"I-I can't do this," she sobbed looking pleadingly at Elias. "If it's Amaira that you want, please, just take her and leave us alone."