Inside a room with no windows, a middle-aged man with a receding hairline was sitting on a metal chair.
He kept both his arms on the table in front of him and stared at the empty chair across from him in a daze. He was brought into this room just now by an officer all of a sudden.
This man was Pyke, who was used as a scapegoat so that Jack was able to avoid criminal charges.
He had been imprisoned for a month, but he didn't worry at all, because either Jack or his father, Jim Brown, would get him out eventually.
Pyke was still oblivious to the fact that Jim was already dead. Just as he was lost in his thoughts, the only door to the room opened, and a young man wearing a three-piece black suit and a black windbreaker entered with a smile on his face.
He had a very handsome face with black hair and even blacker eyes. He looked at Pyke and grinned menacingly. Pyke, initially, didn't recognize the young man but a moment later his eyes went wide as he stood up from his chair.
"I-it's you!?" Pyke was shocked. Because this was the young man whom his master, Jack, had ordered to be killed. Bryan Lombardi!
After a brief moment of shock, Pyke returned to his seat with a sneer on his face as he said in disdain, "What are you here for? Revenge? Heh, you can't do anything to me in this place."
Bryan shut the door behind him and locked it. Then he approached the empty chair, removed his windbreaker and tailored suit coat, and put them on it.
He rolled the sleeves of his shirt to his elbows, revealing two grayish-silver braces that covered his forearms as he said nonchalantly, "Is that so?"
Pyke involuntarily gulped upon seeing Bryan's actions. He was visibly tensed, not because of the bracers but the two daggers that were sheathed on both sides of his waist.
Pyke nervously asked, "W-What are you trying to do?"
Bryan replied, "Nothing really. Just wanted to ask you some questions. Now, tell me everything you know about Jack and the Brown Manor."
Pyke mustered up his courage and snorted, "Fuck o-"
Before he could finish his sentence, Pyke saw Bryan's right hand turn into a blur. The next moment, a curved grayish-silver dagger stabbed his hand which was on the table, and pierced through it.
Pyke looked at his hand which was pierced through by the dagger in a daze. It took a moment for his pain receptors to react. And then he screamed in agony, "Arrgggg-"
But his scream was also abruptly cut off as another dagger pierced his other hand and nailed it to the table.
Before Pyke could scream again, Bryan moved his right index finger at a very high speed and delicately stabbed two points at Pyke's neck, around his throat.
This action temporarily disabled Pyke's vocal cords. He was frightened out of his wits. It hurt! It hurt so much but he couldn't scream. Neither could he remove the daggers from his hands that were nailed to the table.
His eyes started to water as his face distorted due to the pain he was going through. Then he heard Bryan's cold voice, "Crying already? Tsk tsk, I've only just begun."
Pyke thought in his head, 'Which lunatic did I end up provoking? Fuck fuck fuck I'm willing to speak just let me speak.'
He tried to open his mouth and speak but no sound came out. Bryan looked at him and teased "Oh? Still don't wanna talk?"
Pyke was fuming in pain and anger as he thought inwardly, 'NO! You fucker, I want to but I can't.'
Bryan pretended to be deep in thought, with his right palm stroking his chin as his left hand supported his right elbow. He sighed with disappointment, "If you don't wish to talk, I can only pray that this will help you."
Bryan walked behind Pyke and stroked his head like a butcher would do to a pig before slaughtering it. Pyke who was bound to the table started trembling in fear. He had no idea what Bryan was about to do next.
Just as he was shaking his head vigorously, he saw two narrow blades pierce his shoulder joints from behind and come out from the front. The tip of the blades penetrated his collarbones and he could see it dripping with blood.
Pyke's eyes turned bloodshot as his body kept trembling. He wanted to scream so badly but he couldn't. All he could do was cry silently.
Bryan walked around him and came to his side. He grabbed Pyke's hair and lifted his head. He looked at him and said, "Even after being stabbed so many times, you still don't wanna talk?"
Then Bryan patted his head and pretended to recall something as he grinned from ear to ear, "Ah! I totally forgot I had disabled your vocal cords. Kek, my bad, my bad."
Pyke gritted his teeth in pain and anger but he couldn't do anything. His face was covered in tears and snot. He just wished that the pain and this devil would both go away.
…
Fifteen minutes later, Bryan walked out of the room frowning. Under torture, Pyke had spilled everything he knew about Jack and the ins and outs of his manor.
He found out that, Jack's father, who was an owner of a few coal mines was a ruthless individual. He had threatened, blackmailed, and even killed many of his competitors just so he could earn more profit.
Jim Brown even exploited poor people to work for him at meager wages. Anyone who didn't listen to him would die in an 'accident'.
Many of the workers in his coal mines and factories also died due to poor working conditions. But Jim always covered it up. He had close ties with the many gangs in Damascus' underworld. Also, he bribed many officials and even some police officers.
His son, Jack, on the other hand, was even more disgusting.
He had his goons kidnap young girls from various low-class and middle-class families or even from the slum areas just so he could rape them and later discard them. Many of these young girls had even died at his hands or committed suicide.
Another important piece of information he found out was about Jeffrey Gill. He was also a coal mine owner and was Jim Brown's long-time rival. Jeffrey too was similar to Jim, in that, they both had committed many crimes for their personal gain.
This information proved to be very crucial to Bryan for his follow-up plan.