Squirrel, his arm aching now, started on the third lot of bones. As he ground, he watched Lee watching him. He wondered again what the man was thinking. He smiled slightly, thinking longingly of the day he'd be strong. After finishing the third lot he looked at the other 4 lots he had to do. His heart sunk and he rubbed his shoulder. He wasn't sure he'd be able to continue for much longer. With Lee observing him, he didn't want to seem lazy or weak. He broke up some more of the bones, and threw them into the grinder. He wasn't thinking of the man that these used to belong to. He was pretending that they were just dog food and it helped him. He started to grind the next lot, but his shoulder screamed out in pain, and then gave out. He lost his balance and crashed to the floor, crying in pain. It felt like it had broken, but he had just pulled a muscle.

Lee stepped over Squirrel as he fell, shaking his head and bending down. "Moderation." He said, lifting the boy to his feet by his other arm. "Switch arms and it'll not be so bad, I assure you." He led the boy to a chair beside the grinder and sat him down, and went to the freezer. Pulling a tray of ice out, he dumped it into a plastic bag and set it on Squirrel's shoulder. "Keep it there, it'll stop the inflammation in the muscles." Going around, he went to the oven just as the timer went off, slipped his hand into an oven mitt, and pulled the medium sized bones, allowing them to cool a bit on the counter.

"I'm sorry," Squirrel said, averting his eyes. He again felt ashamed and weak. "Did I break it?" He took the ice pack of slightly to look at it. It looked normal, no bones or blood. He quickly put the ice pack back onto it, not wanting to get growled at. He felt drained from all the physical activity. He hadn't worked this hard in his life.

"No, you didn't break anything." Lee rolled his eyes and grabbed the remaining bones Squirrel hadn't gotten to, grinding them with one hand over the opening at the top to stop any stray shards from flying out in any direction. "You'll get used to it, Squirrel. You just have to continue practicing. But it's better to save your arms and strength for later on. When Julius finally wakes up. I'm sure you're looking to get a few good whacks in on that ragdoll bastard." He cranked the grinder's handle faster, spending a bit of his own energy so he didn't completely do away with Julius before it was necessary.

Squirrel watched him, thankful that Lee was finishing his job. He rested back in the chair, pulling his legs up under himself. He liked watching the man. His long hair draped over his face while he worked. He must have forgotten to tie it back. He seemed forgetful for such a particular guy. He wandered into deep thought, thinking of what he wanted to happen to Julius. He felt his head throb slightly at the thought of hurting the pervert.
He closed his eyes, letting his fatigue get the best of him. He slid off the chair and fell onto the floor, not waking from his sleep.

Lee glanced sideways at Squirrel in time to see him slide to the floor. For a moment, he focused on his grinding until the gears ran clean and unhindered, then he stood, sweeping back his hair and lifting Squirrel over his back, going around to the couch and depositing him on the one against the wall of the living room. Setting the ice beside him, he glanced at the work still to be done. With a sigh, he shook his head and sat on the other couch, Lying his head on the arm and closing his eyes. Julius might wake them both with his calls when he himself wakes up---a useful alarm clock, but at times, it was best to gag them to get a good night's sleep.

Squirrel slept soundly, only waking when he heard a faint strangled cry. He sat up, his heart racing until he realised that the noise was coming from Julius downstairs. He glanced over at Lee, wondering if he was awake. It was still dark, but it seemed like the sun was stirring awake on the horizon. Squirrel tried his shoulder, glad that it didn't hurt too much. His head ached and he wished for pain killers, but he decided to wait for Lee to be properly awake before he asked, in case he took the wrong thing. He laid back down and listened to the cries of help coming from the basement. Lee must have forgotten to gag him.

Lee found sleep quickly. It was a light sleep, somewhat between the two states. But it always was---he'd never been able to sleep deeply. The first cry came a few hours after he'd closed his eyes---it was one of shock, a sharp sound as if Julius had been hit, which he hadn't. Then it spoke: "Huh? Hey! Hey, where am I!?" He propped up his head, keeping his eyes closed, though. It was a good alarm when one overslept, to have someone scream suddenly or in frustration after a few days. "They never shut up." He said, brushing his hair back. "Squirrel, you up for going down there?" He opened his eyes and glanced at the boy, noting he had woken up. He stood, and stretched. His joints popped and cracked, as they always did.

Squirrel gulped as he nodded. He was nervous, but he wanted to see the man suffer. The man that had many before him suffer. "Can I have something for my headache?" he asked, wincing at the screaming coming from below. He was also starving, having not eaten since their first night together. This he could ignore for now. Maybe when they had finished down stairs, Lee would make him something nice to eat and he could watch more of those funny talking animals. Almost like a normal family. He straightened his hat, which had become lop-sided in sleep.

Lee nodded, smiling calmly as he went into the kitchen, setting aside the bucket and grinder and moving aside the bones. The smallest were probably dried already, and he'd get to them much later. Reaching into the cabinet, he found what he was looking for without even glancing. "Now you know why I have so many of these." He said, indicating the bottle as he shook a couple out. "Some days I take them like candy." He rolled his eyes, and set the pills on the counter before finding a small glass and filling it with water. "I'll go on down, and when you're ready, come on with me. I'll make sure you have the first hit." He grinned widely for the first time since finding the kid. Usually he smiled like this only when he was facing and instilling pain on those he'd caught. It was very wide, and showed all his teeth, and for a moment, almost made him look absolutely maniacal. It was only there for a moment, though. Then he turned and walked downstairs.

Julius was definitely awake. As Lee came into view, he gasped. "You! I know you! You're---"

"I'm sure I know who I am." Lee huffed, and came forward, releasing the cop's head from the vise. "Now then. Do you know why you're here? And don't go trying to act innocent. After all, I saw what you were trying to do. Let's say you do that a lot, eh? And if you tell the truth, this'll be much easier on you. How often do you do it?"

Julius stared hard at Lee, as if he could make the man combust with a stare. Then his gaze broke, and he gasped. "Eh... Erh, yea... Um. Every... three days."

"Mainly kids?"

"Yep." He shuddered. "Only k-kids. Boys and girls. Never... N-never above.... fo-fourteen."

Lee pursed his lips and straightened his shoulders. "Oh, I hate you. I hate you so much." He growled lowly.

Steadying himself, Squirrel gulped down a couple of mouthfuls of water, then washed back the painkillers. The thumping headache made him feel dizzy and he had to lean against the bench until the pain subsided. He wondered if he should tell Lee it happened all the time, but decided against it. No one died from a headache, well at least that's what he thought.
He helped himself to some more water, before finding his way down the stairs. He stood quietly in the shadows, not even sure if Lee knew he had joined him. Seeing the man crying and begging like many of the children he had abused made Squirrel feel happy. Now he would know of the suffering and humiliation that he had put him through.

Lee glanced backward as the stairs began creaking quietly, even under the light weight of Squirrel's small frame. "You'll recognize the young man from earlier today, I'm sure." Lee smiled widely, and he was happy to see Julius's face fall and his eyes widen. Lee went to the shelf and pulled the tripod and camera out. "Squirrel, stay where you are. I don't want you on film." He set the tripod and camera in its usual place. "And don't speak. Not yet." Ejecting the older tape, he replaced it with a newer one. Okay, bastard." he turned his gaze to Julius. "You'll answer all my questions and you won't lie. If you do, I'll break your legs. Both of them. Understood?"

Julius nodded. He'd obviously never been subjected to pain like that. Lee smiled, and pressed 'record'. "What is your name?"

"Ju... Julius Pah.... Prater..."

"Good. Your age."

"F-forty six. Years."

"For what have you been convicted?"

Julius paused for a moment, turning his gaze to Squirrel for a moment. "Ah... I've been m-molesting children... for the past f-five years." He swallowed hard.

"Would you have continued to do this?" Lee crossed his arms.

Julius paused. Lee cracked his knuckles in the silence, startling Julius into nodding. "Yes. I would have."

Lee turned the camera off and ejected the tape. "Your confession." He said, showing it to Julius. "Come forward, Squirrel. If you want a weapon, there are tools over in the other corner." He pointed to an area beside the deep freeze, where Roy was being kept in the cold. "Just don't kill him tonight. We're keeping him alive for a while."

Squirrel watched the confession in interest. He vaguely wondered why Lee did this, seeing he was going to kill the man anyway. He set his teeth as the vile man looked over at him, admitting to his crime. 'You did more than that,' he screamed at him in his mind. When he was permitted to come forward, he became nervous. He didn't know what he wanted to do and suddenly, all the ideas of revenge flew out of his terrified mind. He hugged the staircase pole, shaking his head, looking from Lee to Julius with terrified eyes. "I don't think I can..." he squeaked, hoping Lee would understand. "Can you... Can you hide his face from me?" He felt stupid asking, but he didn't want to give the man any pleasure seeing him. He also didn't want to see his face when he hurt him.

Lee nodded slowly. "Always a little hard the first time you do it." He said. Bringing up an old shirt, which he'd used a few months ago on a young woman that had been both unfaithful to her husband and had plotted to kill him. It was a ragged old thing Lee now used to clean the blades of his knives. Approaching Julius, he placed his knee on the man's police badge and dug it into his breast. The shirt was tied tightly, but not so much to obstruct breathing. "There we go. Now the bastard can't look at you. He doesn't deserve to anyway." He glanced back at Squirrel. "The first strike tends to be the hardest." He said. "I got over it quick, but I can't say the same about others." He shook his head, and kicked Julius in the side. He yelped, twitching over to his side as much as his cuffed hands would allow. "If you really don't want to, I'll take care of it for a while." Lee added.

Gulping down his fears, Squirrel stepped nervously towards the now blindfolded man.He closed his eyes and thought hard. He thought about the day he was scared, looking for help. He thought of the memory of being violated by this man he was supposed to trust. He thought of his friend, Skye, lying naked in a ditch, like he wasn't even a human being. Rage boiled up inside of him. His eyes snapped open and he made for a mallet. One with a long handle, normally used for pounding fence posts into the ground. The anger giving him more strength than usual, he lifted the mallet above his head and brought it down hard on the man's foot.
Julius screamed in agony, followed by a string of curses and begging for his life. "You deserve this," Squirrel growled, changing from the innocent child he had just been and into a vengeance-seeking monster. "You deserve everything we are going to do to you!" He lifted the mallet up again, bringing it down on the man's other foot. "You bastard!" Squirrel screamed at him, remembering his friend. He pointed the mallet at Julius' crouch and jabbed as hard as he could into it, squashing it with the heavy metal. "I hate you!"

Lee laughed at the sound of the monstrosity's pain. He deserved every bit of it, but might go into shock. He stepped forward, kneeling down beside Julius as he writhed. "Moderation, Squirrel!" He said, and picked up a small black box. Pulling a syringe that looked just like the ones Lee used to put them to sleep, he jammed it into the bad cop's arm. "This'll dull the pain just a bit and stop him from dying prematurely." Lee told Squirrel. "Go for limbs, not the torso. Limbs can be disposed of, the torso holds the organs, the most important in keeping them alive." He stood and tossed the syringe on the shelf. It and its siblings came from a friend of his that worked in a hospital. Lee had been complaining to this 'friend' of various horrible pains in many joints, and had been given the liquid painkillers on a weekly basis. Now he used them for his targets, if he were especially angry at them. It kept them alive, and wouldn't let them bleed out, for a good long while.

Lee took the mallet. "Give me a turn, then you can do away with the rest of his legs." He raised it high as Julius screamed a plea that turned into a high, ringing screech as his bones shattered in the ankle and most of his foot. Lee was always invigorated by these situations, allowing him to work through the night with the rush of adrenaline that kept him awake and alert almost constantly. But he gave the mallet back to Squirrel.

Squirrel, gripped by a madness that wasn't his own, continued on the left foot and leg, hitting it until he got no resistance. He dropped the mallet and bent over, pulling Julius' shoes off. He stared at the purple swollen feet and smiled, grabbing a hold of the foot he twisted it, until the toes were facing in the opposite direction. He was mildly surprised that it could do that and still retain its shape. Slowly, he picked up the mallet and brought it down hard on the twisted foot. Blood leaked from the broken toenails and Julius was whimpering in pain. Squirrel dropped the mallet, panting, he went over to the stairs and collapsed on the bottom one. He breathed heavily, crying and clutching his head. How could he have done this? What was Lee turning him into?

Squirrel scuttled off, and Lee crouched down in front of Julius. The shirt, originally simply covered in blood, was now soaked in tears and sweat. He pulled it off to reveal Julius's dark red face. "You sorry now?"

"Yes... Yes! Yes!" He had to speak between sobs, but the words were obvious and prominent. "YES!"

"I don't think you are. You not only harmed children, but you shamed the police force. You're a disgrace. One they'll never hear of." Lee stepped away, grabbing the ball gag and stuffing it into Julius's mouth. His leg was something to concern, but as long as he didn't move it much, which didn't look like much of a problem now, there would be no ill after-effects. He went toward where Squirrel was.

"You're a bit too human." He said simply. "You only see people at face. You need to see the monster within some of them." He crouched. "Is your headache gone?" He asked.

Squirrel continued to sob quietly, feeling disgusted in himself. Not only did he fail Lee, but he hurt another human being. He had lost his head and succumbed to the beast inside. He wiped his nose on his sleeve and tried to pull himself together. The headache hadn't disappeared fully, it was still there, throbbing dully in his temple. He nodded his head to the question, as it wasn't causing him immense pain.
"I want... I want something to eat..." he said finally, looking away from Julius. He didn't really feel like eating, but he knew the comfort would help him settle down. "And... I want to watch... the animals..." He forgot what Lee had called them, but he hoped the man understood what he was getting at.

Lee reached down, pulling Squirrel up and nearly carrying him up the stairs. “I get it, I get it.” He muttered. Indeed, he did. Being so destructively angry at someone that it pushed one out of their comfort zone, he'd had it happen before. The first kill was rather sloppy. He hadn't known how to dispose of the body. In the end, he'd stripped the meat off the bones and tossed the bones into a deep old well. The meat he'd left in the middle of a wooded area, far off from the city. That's when he didn't live so close to where he was now, anyway.

Setting Squirrel by the couches, he went to move everything out of the way. The grinder and bucket he set aside, and he piled the dried bones aside, wiping the counters. “Under the television stand are tapes. The sleeves have which shows and movies they are. You'll find every episode of those talking animals.” Lee went to the refrigerator and looked inside. Hm... “If you need help working the VCR, let me know. It ought to take your mind off things if that's what you want.” He found a pack of chicken breast. That would be good for tonight... He just had to get inspired.

Squirrel knelt by the tv, looking through the tapes. He found one that had the talking animals on it and smiled, pushing it into the VCR. He found the little play button and pushed it. Then glancing up at the TV, he turned it on. He crawled back to the couch and laid down, flicking the channels until he found the one that the tape was playing on. It seemed that he was getting smarter and he felt proud of himself.
"I did it!" he called over the couch back towards Lee. He didn't know why he did, he just wanted the man to be proud of him too. He watched the cartoons and tried to loose himself in the whimsical slapstick. For a moment, he felt like a child. He felt like what he was supposed to be like. He laughed loudly, ignoring any grunts of annoyance from Lee. He was happy.

Lee acknowledged Squirrel's calling as he worked in the overhead light of the kitchen. “Getting better I see.” He called over his shoulder, opening the pack and taking the chicken out, setting them on a cutting board and slicing them slightly along the top. As he worked, he glanced back toward Squirrel a few times. The kid was just that, a kid. Thirteen. He shouldn't have been subjected to anything like this. No one so very young should, if anyone really had to. And to be found by a killer one day. To be forced to stay around because that killer were just too paranoid to trust that no one would believe a street kid. But he couldn't blame himself. He could blame himself very little. It was the fault of the kid's parents, for abandoning him like that. And if they could leave one, they could leave the other.

Lee shook his head and focused. Pounding the chicken thin, he grabbed a couple eggs, cracked and shipped them so he could dip the chicken in and coat them with breadcrumbs, the likes of which he'd pulled from the freezer when he put the carton of eggs back away. Putting on the burner beside a warming skillet of olive oil a pan with water, he waited for it to begin boiling before adding various seasonings that would spice it a bit and finally, short-grain rice. For a moment, he looked back at Squirrel. He looked to be doing well. It was good that the kid managed to drown out what had recently happened by laughing. The chicken and rice finished at about the same time. Pulling a couple green onions from the crisper drawer, he minced them and placed them on each bed of rice before setting one of the two chicken breasts on top.

“Come on over when you're ready, kid.” Lee called, setting each plate on the table and looking back around for something other than water to drink. He knew many things about juices of different fruits, the benefits they could give the body. His preference was apple, which was what he grabbed. Squirrel may need with a little cleaning.

Smelling the food was ready before Lee called out, Squirrel paused the cartoons and got up from the couch. He felt a little dizzy and every time he blinked, he could see the man's broken and bleeding foot ingrained in his eyelids. He shivered and suddenly felt a little sick. He made his way to the food and sniffed in deeply, amazed at how yummy it seemed. He took the plate and carefully went to the table, sitting down and digging in. The chicken was a crispy, but also very juicy and tender. The rice, something Squirrel had never had in his life, was spicy and flavourful.
"It's delicious," he said with a grin. He continued to eat in silence, focussing on the food and not on the constant nightmares that rolled through his head. He had done that to Julius. He had hurt another person. He had caused that person to bleed. He blinked hard.

Lee sat across from Squirrel and nodded when the boy spoke. For a moment, he fiddled with the rice and stared at it, as if it held a secret, then when he found it didn't, started eating it. "Thanks, kid." He said after a moment. "It's strange having someone around to tell me I've done something right." Lee added. "Usually I just assume it's right, or as close to right as I'll get."

His mind traveled for a moment to Julius. He'd be feeling the pain now that the injection was beginning to wear off. "I'm beginning to think it was a mistake letting you go down there." He said at last. "You look like you're haunted, anyway. You'll be okay, boy?" He didn't want the kid having a mental breakdown. He wasn't the fatherly type. Or friendly type. Or anything even relatively near what could be considered friendly. It was nothing he could control, though. Lee couldn't even cry unless pepper sprayed. And even then, he was building up a tolerance every weekend because of a rather unfortunate incident six months before.

Squirrel shrugged off Lee's question. He finished eating the meal before he looked up at the man and replied. "I'll be ok... I just... Don't think I can go back down there..." he said. He shuddered at the thought of going back down there and inflicting more pain. "You can do it for me... I've done my bit." He suddenly thought of his friend, Skye. He wondered if he'd be happy with what Squirrel had done to Julius. Skye wasn't the violent type, and preferred to sort things out using words. He really was a role model for Squirrel. Would he be angry that Squirrel had hurt Julius? He sighed and stared blankly at the table surface, as if the polished wood could give him an answer.
"I'm going to go watch some more cartoons... I'll do some more grinding later... I just need some time to be a kid," he told Lee, his voice sounded a lot older than his real age.