Eden's Nightmare Ch. 01

"God loves all of his children. You only have to ask." he continued. "He will forgive you of your sins."

The priest pulled out a mass of black leather. It had a silver T-handle, and when he flipped it downward, Eden could see it was some sort of flogger. It had dozens of thin leather strips, almost five feet long.

She shivered when she realized, he meant to use that on her.

Eden swallowed.

"Hmmm?" he asked.

"Would that get me out of this?" she asked, with a small hopeful grin.

"No," he grinned back. "But it would save your soul."

He set the flogger on the table.

"Can I ask you a few questions instead?" she asked.

The priest pulled a thin bit of braided leather from the suitcase. Long, thin and with a clustered tip of several strands. He wound it into a small loop next to it's short handle as he just looked at her.

Finally he nodded.

"Tradition allows it," he answered.

Eden knew she didn't have much time, so she considered what she needed to know.

"Who are you?"

"Ohhh!, how discourteous of me, Fraulein Sands."

He closed the suitcase and set it on the floor. Coming around the table, stood there looking down at her.

"I should have introduced myself." he said. "My apologies."

"I am Father Gunter Wind," he nodded. "Lay Brother of the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon."

He made the sign of the cross over his chest.

"I will be the one Scourging you tonight."

It took Eden a few moments to remember the reference. She was no scholar, but she did like a good movie on a cold winter night. "The DiVinci Code" had been a good one, she'd even picked up the book to read on a long stake out she'd been on.

"You're a Templer!" she realized.

He nodded, picking up another suitcase and setting it on the table.

"Yes, the Church welcomed us back several centuries ago." He brushed at his black vest self consciously. "We were never heretics, no matter what the French King said."

He muttered a curse, that Eden thought was German.

"The Brotherhood just understood that some touched by evil, could still be good soldiers of the Lord. That caused problems. The Church wasn't as understanding then." Father Gunther said, with a shrug. "Now we few who are left, serve the Church in what ever fashion we can. Secure in the knowledge we do the Lord's work and that the Holy Land will one day be ours again."

Eden wondered how old he was. Weres weren't immortal like vampires, but they aged very slowly. Father Gunther could be speaking from experience about what had happened to the Templer Knights.

"Why is the Church involved in this?" she asked.

He smiled softly.

"The various Houses couldn't decide on a Inquisitionor." he explained. "Those who supported Merryweather, were deemed to lenient. Those supporting Renauldi, too harsh. Those in the middle didn't want to piss off either side."

He walked behind the table.

"Someone knew I was in town," he opened the suitcase. "And I was offered as an impartial third party."

He drew a long rod from the suitcase. It has wrappings of leather around the handle, and a sharp point at the other end. Perfect for heating.

Eden shivered.

"The Church agreed, when approached on the matter."

He set the iron down. Then drew a second just like it out.

Eden thought hard.

"What are you limits?" she asked.

Formal things like these always had limits and you could live or die by them.

Father Gunther held the iron in his hand and slowly ran his hand up and down it. He looked at Eden, tied up and helpless. Eden could almost feel the heat on her flesh when he would be using it on her.

"Limits?" the priest gave her an evil smile. "What make you think I have any limits to what I can do to you?"

Eden felt her face flush and she heard him chuckled at her fear.

"Sorry, Inquisitioner humor." He shrugged after a moment. "We love to tease you all a bit before we start."

"Bad habit," he admitted. "No doubt I'll be saying some Hail, Mary's when I next confess."

Eden let out a relieved sigh. As relieved as she could considering she was still tied to a chair in her basement, about to be tortured and whipped. Damn him, this priest had a sense of humor. She almost liked him for that.

"The limits of this Scourging were fairly specific," he said.

"You are to be punished until the first rays of Dawn." he looked at his watch. "About six and a half hours now."

"I may not inflict sufficient punishment to cause your death, though you may ask for that mercy at any time during the proceedings."

Father Gunther reached into the suitcase before him. Eden gave a small gasp as she watched him pull a wicked dagger out. He fingered the edge and Eden caught the scent of blood as the edge cut his finger. He put the finger in his mouth for a second.

"I may not damage your face." he said.

He chuckled again.

"That was hotly contested by House Renauldi, but surprisingly even many of their Allies balked at that." He shook his head.

"Politics!" He spoke it like a curse.

"The young Fraulein Renauldi was there at Council, being quite the shrew, I heard." He shook his head again. "I do not think many approve of this thing, even among Renauldi's supporters."

"That will be to your advantage, when you seek vengeance." He said. "If you survive, that is."

"You wouldn't consider just sitting here all night and talking?" she asked. "I won't tell, if you don't."

Father Gunther smiled and shook his head, laying the knife on the table.

"Further, you are to be punished, in measures, 5 to 1. House Seaside was most insistent on that." He reached into the suitcase again. "That to is to your advantage. A periodic break for both the Accused and the Inquisitioner, keeps things from getting out of hand."

If what she'd seen so far come out that suitcase were scary, what he pulled out then shocked her truly.

"I am also to give you pleasure," he held up a long pink vibrator. "As well as pain."

He flipped the switch on the bottom, and the vibrator commenced to buzz.

"This could get very interesting," he admitted. "For both of us..."