It was gently tossed it into the plastic covered wheelbarrow where it landed with a wet splat. His facial expression was set in a glare of concentration, the woman’s blood not bothering him at all. There was so much. It hung from her barren face like thin strings of long ribbon.
He continued. Every cut he made was specific and calculated. From what I could see, they weren’t incredibly deep, but they were enough to separate the skin from muscle.
He sliced into the woman’s arms, wrists, feet, and chest. I quickly realized the goal was to remove the skin in as few pieces as possible.
Crimson rained down to the ground like a steady waterfall. The sound of dripping blood coupled with him slowly peeling flesh reminded me of snapping Velcro and rain boots jumping in mud puddles.
The visual oddly reminded me of someone having their clothes taken off. My stomach churned, and my throat painfully tightened, but I couldn’t look away.
If the purple haired woman weren’t already damn near dead, she would be completely gone in a few minutes. Perhaps that was a good thing. A lethal infection or exsanguination would kill her far quicker than hanging upside down would have.
When he was done with her, he moved on to the brunette.
The leather gloves he’d pulled on were a dark shade of maroon, and so slippery they squelched every time his fingers flexed.
Maybe I should have tried to thwart his attention so he’d focus on me. Maybe that would have miraculously spared his next target.
I didn’t.
I was never the hero. I was always the villain. I was selfish and unashamedly stingy when it came to self-preservation.
The knowledge that I could potentially have my own bump soon meant a fuck load more to me than either of these unfortunate strangers being flayed alive.
I wasn’t afraid of death but I wasn’t quite ready to accept her loving embrace. I wanted to live. I’d never gotten the chance to do that yet. With that in mind, I knew I was going to get out of this. I didn’t know how, but I would. I had to.
The man continued with his work, humming to the beat of a heavy metal song blasting through his ear-buds loud enough for me to hear. Black Sabbath? Seriously? It was almost comical.
I watched him skillfully maneuver around the chains and wondered how many times he’d done this. He didn’t so much as bat an eyelid when he had to lift the section of skin that covered the bump.
“Jesus Christ.” I shut my eyes and looked away, unable to watch, wishing I had something to block out the sound.
“Ugh, fuck.” My eyes flew open when something wet touched my legs. Her blood seemed to gravitate towards right where I was sitting. I hurriedly crab walked further, not stopping until the chains around my wrists reached their limit.
I hoped that she couldn’t feel any of this, that her nervous system was screaming for help and misfiring so many different warnings that her body was shutting down.
I wisely kept my smart ass mouth shut for once, not wanting to draw any more attention to me than necessary. If I were a normal woman, I would have been a hysterical mess and projectile vomiting all over myself.
I wasn’t, though, and I was really happy about that right then. Falling apart was the last thing I needed to do.
Fortunately, he sped through the rest of the process and walked off with his wheelbarrow full of bloody flesh, only acknowledging me with a slight nod.
His process had been so different from the cannibals. Why did he only take the skin? Were there people who only ate human flesh? I found that more disturbing than broiling someone’s arm.
When empty silence descended, I found myself studying the carcasses beside me, doing my best to avoid the brunette’s torso for obvious reasons.
It was morbidly educational to see tendons and muscle mass exposed. They looked like large slabs of raw meat left out to dry. The smell was an entirely different story. It was like cheap perfume had been dabbed on a rotten piece of beef.
The steady blood flow eventually turned into a light trickle, and then a drip.
I eventually had no choice but to shimmy my pants down to urinate on the ground or risk pissing myself. There was nothing I could do about my growling stomach.
No one else came by.
Day turned to night, and I was left alone.
CHAPTER NINE
Every time I shut my eyes and managed to sleep, he was there waiting for me. This time was no different, even when my dozing off wasn’t intentional.
He knelt right in front of me, his onyx eyes boring straight into mine, searing right into the tar black soul that exclusively belonged to him.
His infuriating as hell signature smirk was in place, and made my heart beat off kilter. One look in his jaded eyes made me want to forgive everything.
I was so lost to this man, trapped under his wicked spell. He would forever be my beloved devil.
When he finally spoke, the familiar deep timbre of his voice sent delicious chills down my spine.
“You look like complete shit, but you’re still the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” He clicked his tongue and reached out, gently trailing his knuckles down the swollen side of my face.
It wasn’t until a door slammed in the distance and I became extremely aware of how real his touch felt that clarity came rushing back to my mind and I knew this wasn’t a dream.
The natural exotic smell of him and the heady scent of blood and old piss filled my lungs as I sucked in a harsh breath. I wanted to wrap my arms around him and kick his ass at the same time.
I wasn’t ready for, or expecting, the wave of emotion that came crashing down on me now that we were right in front of each other.
I felt like we’d just ended the most fucked up game of hide-and-go-seek in history.
All I had to do was lift my hand and I’d be able to touch him. My brain started churning at a mile a minute. I suddenly felt ultra-awake. Adrenaline flowed like lava through my veins.
There were so many things I wanted to say; I’d planned this out in my head a thousand times, but I could never bring myself to tell him how I felt, and that didn’t miraculously change in the short span of two weeks.
I buried it and did my best to act indifferent. That could all wait. All I needed to focus on right then was getting far the fuck away from wherever I was.
Glancing to the left, I was glad to see that someone had at least had the decency to take the bodies away.
I leaned forward to stretch and every muscle in my body screamed in protest; I was so sore, it even hurt to flex my toes.
I was okay, though. I’d been in worse pain when he found me the first time and saved me from becoming someone’s dinner.
Romero shifted and rose back up to his full height. I stared at his shiny black boots, taking my time to appreciate what I’d been missing as my eyes drifted up his body. He had on dark jeans that hugged his amazing ass, and a dark shirt covering all his beautiful tattoos.
When I got to his face, I was greeted with a smug as fuck grin. “That’s just a preview. If you’re an extra good girl, I’ll let you have a private showing.”
I scoffed to hide a smile as if I didn’t know every inch of him by heart.
“Are you going to get these off me?” I lifted my wrists up, shaking the chains.
His hand reached down and took hold of the rusted links on the left. He gave a gentle tug but made no effort to remove them.
“You’re good for my ego. This whole damsel in distress thing you have going on almost makes me feel like a hero.”
So, we were jumping right back into it were we? I huffed out an annoyed breath and told myself to count to ten.
I couldn’t make it past zero.
“I’m not a fucking damsel, asshole! I wouldn’t even be in this situation if it wasn’t for you, so just take the goddamn chains off and I can go.”
He immediately dropped the links and stepped back, crossing his arms. Ugh. It should have been a sin to be so damn gorgeous. “You shouldn’t talk like tha
t, babe. It’s unbecoming of a lady. And don’t you mean so we can go?”
I ground my teeth and glared up at him.
Goddamn it.
“What do you want from me now?”
“Not much.” He smirked, and I knew whatever came out of his mouth next was going to piss me off more than he just had.
“You don’t have to do anything drastic, like thank me for saving your ungrateful ass again. Just admit that you need me, and this can all go away.”
I did need him. I needed him to feed the addict in me. I needed him to fill the bottomless void inside me so I could feel whole again. We were tied together from the second we met.
He was already aware of all this. The fucker just wanted to hear me admit it aloud. Was I going to? Hell no. I was stubborn, and didn’t appreciate ultimatums.
“Go fuck yourself.”
The grin he gave me was full of devilry. He laughed and took hold of my chin, forcing me to maintain eye contact. “Not only is she a fucking idiot, but she’s mouthy, too? Huh.
Guess I shouldn’t be surprised, though. All that beauty and no brains,” he sighed with forced exasperation.
It was almost verbatim of what he’d said when we first met.
He moved his hand, rubbing the pad of his thumb across my bottom lip. If my mouth didn’t hurt, I would have bitten him.
“Since you don’t need me, you shouldn’t have any problems breaking free,” he taunted. “I have to go handle something. You wait here.” He winked at me before walking off.
I was tied up. Where the hell was I going to go?
“Fucking asshole!” I called after him, getting a laugh in response.
CHAPTER TEN
I banged on the steel door twice and waited.
I listened to the running water, the scraping of graters, and the hum of an old ventilation system. Bugs repeatedly flew into the bulb of the floodlight hanging above me.
Not a full minute later, the heavy door was slid open just enough for the noxious fumes inside to escape and for me to see inside.
Piles of human skin sat ready to be processed and either discarded in the old dumpster I knew was out back, or un-haired, degreased, desalted, and then soaked in water.
Luther stepped out and quickly closed the large room off again, still wearing his plastic overalls and face mask.
“Didn’t I tell you it would work?” He pulled his mask down to reveal a wide ass grin.
“You should probably commit this moment in history to memory, considering it’s the first time you’ve been right about anything in sixteen fucking years.”
He threw his head back and laughed.
“Actually, My Liege, if the blonde chained up outside my stable is the infamous Calista, I’ve been right about two things. If I remember correctly, I was adamant you’d find her eventually.”
“You’re right. I’ll add a golden star to your special chart.”
“I’ve sincerely missed you and all your royal asshole remarks.” He laughed again, holding a gloved hand over his heart.
“Yeah, now we’ve caught up, go take those fucking chains off my girl.”
“Come on, Dhal has the key.” He grinned and set off towards his house. “You sure you don’t wanna leave Tito behind?”
There was no love lost between the two of them. Tito just wasn’t a well-liked individual these days. I smirked in amusement at his anger on my behalf.
“Nah, his ass is mine to handle. I’ll send Grimm to collect him. And I want whoever it was that knocked Cali’s tooth out. You can have Janice for the kid. It’ll save you a body.”
He stroked his chin and nodded. “Yeah, that works for me.” I knew he would accept the offer. He’d been teaching his niece how to flay on cadavers and could always use another one.
We walked in silence. I laughed to myself. Cali would be mad as fuck. Knowing she was safe and would soon be back by my side where she belonged calmed the beast inside me.
I swear I could breathe easier, knowing my beautiful girl was coming home.
I should have come to see Luther first, but my feet had carried me to her. The pull was magnetic. It was only after I checked her over that I realized I needed a key to get her chains off. If I didn’t already know Luther had only done what was necessary, I would have crushed his fucking spine for tying her up.
“I like her.”
“Uh huh, so do I,” I replied, feeling the need to state what was plain as fucking day.
“She’s tiny a little thing––”
“If you’re trying to make a point, make it,” I warned.
“Hey, chill, man. I value my life.” He held his hands up in surrender and took a small step away. “I was going to say she has spunk. If she’s anything like what I’ve heard, you two are gonna be fuckin great together. This is what we needed.”
I didn’t have anything to add to that. Shit was weird and way too far out of my comfort zone.
Cali represented a lot of things I’d never had before. I was not accustomed to discussing her. She wasn’t some random fuck. I had balls big enough to admit she mattered to me.
Luther knew she would play a pivotal role in my life, but this felt way too much like an opening for a heart to heart, and I didn’t do that bullshit.
We walked in silence for a few minutes. Away from the spotlight, the rest of property was blanketed in darkness, but from what I could see, Luther was still doing a bang-up job of maintaining it.
“You have a good system.” It was the closest thing to a thank you he was going to get. He’d had his trap-house set up for almost nine years now. The place was wired to alert him when anyone entered.
Usually, he had scouts nearby to go in and wrangle the people up but, Cali wasn’t just people, she was mine.
He staged it to look ransacked or abandoned, swapping out the pictures on the wall to finish off the whole thing. It was morbid and fucking brilliant.
“I learned all I know from the master of debauchery. I’d be ass up without you, man.” He rubbed the inverted cross tattooed on the back of his neck.
I shrugged it off. I’d known Luther since I was twelve, a year less than I’d known Cobra. Grimm, I’d known my whole fucking life. The four of us, along with Dahlia, the only bitch we let in our inner circle, grew up together. We were as close as four fucked up degenerates who hated emotional attachments could be.
I was the one who turned his odd hobby into a tool for profit. Money would always be a powerhouse in its own right.
I forged the connection between him and a buyer, and next thing next, business was booming. The house was just a way to lure stock. It had yet to fail.
When I suggested he initiate his niece into the family business, the motherfucker almost pissed his pants in joy. That was all the motivation he needed to off his sister and her sack of shit boyfriend the next day. It all worked out in end. Annie was eight now, and had been happily acing her role for four years. The kid was a chip off the old block.
“We sure as hell have come a long way. We’re the best damn sinners and thieves in the Badlands now,” he reminisced aloud with a huge ass smile on his face. He was right, and we’d continue to be so for years to come.
That was the thing about sick fucks like us—our repertoires were endless. We took pride in all we did and we had our own ideologies about how the world should be.
It was that belief and with their backing that paved the way for my future. I took over a motherfucking cult at the ripe age of sixteen. We didn’t let where we were from or how we were raised cripple us. We were the rejected rebels who lived by our own set of rules.
The Badlands was considered hell on earth, and I had used it to build up an empire. Now it was time to ensure the motherfucker never crumbled.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
I’m not sure how long I petulantly sat with my back against the wall. With nothing to do but stew, I absentmindedly stroked the inverted cross I wore around my neck.
That fucking dickhead really left me ch
ained up.
I couldn’t confidently say I was safe considering Romero was my rescuer—again, as he so eloquently reminded me—but it was a fuck of a lot better than having my skin removed for who knows what reasons.
I didn’t trust him as far as I could throw him, but I wanted to.
I wanted to be able to confide in him and know without a doubt that he would never betray me. At first, I had just wanted to be understood. I’d been lost when I met him, having no idea who I was. I’d spent so much time hiding her from everyone that even I started to forget.
Things were different now. The twisted maze I always ended up lost in had finally presented a new twist for me to travel. It was a twist that led me straight into the arms of the devil, entrapping me in a devious dance that never ended.
I was no longer a prisoner of my mind. I was now a prisoner of my addictions and obsessions. It was his entire fucking fault. He changed me. He gave me something I couldn’t live without.
So much was up in the air between us but one thing would remain forever set in stone.
In the end it would always be him and I.
I jerked out of my dark thoughts when the heavy silence dilapidated into a barrage of sounds rolling in from different directions. Looking towards the house, I saw the robed followers of Romero. I had to have been pretty damn distracted to have missed their arrival.
As if conjuring him up, I spotted Romero walking towards me with the man who’d brought me here. The sky had a purplish-blue tint to it, signifying dawn. Where the hell had he been this whole time?
“Oh, look. She’s still here,” Romero jeered when they were just a few feet away.
I glowered at him, cursing him a thousand times over in my head.
The instant they reached me, Blue Eyes came to me with a bright grin on his face and quickly undid the chains around my wrists. “Sorry about your tooth, sweetheart,” he said softly.
I heard the sincerity behind his words but I didn’t understand why he was apologizing to me. He could have saved himself the breath.
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