As soon as the door opened, he smelled blood, but there was something else: burned flesh.
Inside the room, there was a figure. Without a shred of doubt, it was Richard Stone.
The man was held up against the wall by chains, and his body was a horrible mess of raw muscle and sinew.
Erik had to stop for a moment because of how horrible what he saw was: Richard had been skinned while still alive.
But not to the point of killing him. Aside from his bloodied face, Richard was almost completely without skin.
Erik's stomach churned, but he pushed the nausea down. Weakness had no time to happen. He needed to get Richard out right away.
With quick steps, he crossed the room and kneeled next to the man.
"Richard! Richard, can you hear me?!"