Casualties of Pretty Things -- Chapter Five -- EXPLICIT CONTENT
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Chapter Five
At home Carl’s car pulled into the driveway and came to a stop in front of the attached garage. It waited while the door opened. The interior lights of the garage flickered and came to life. When the car was inside the garage its headlights shut off and the door closed behind it.
In the car Carl’s victim Denise stirred. He pet her head, got out of the car, and opened the trunk. He reached in and pulled out a doctor’s bag. He walked over to the passenger door and opened it.
He opened the doctor’s bag and pulled out a medicine bottle filled with one of his cocktails and a syringe. He filled the syringe with the cocktail. While Denise mumbled incoherently Carl plunged the needle into her neck. She was completely still and silent.
Carl walked over to a utility cabinet and opened it. There were latex gloves and garbage bags amongst various garage items. He put on a pair of latex gloves and pulled a garbage bag from the cabinet. He opened the bag and lay it on the ground. He went over to the door leading into the house, where he opened it, walked through and disappeared into darkness.
Moments passed.
Carl returned, breaking through the darkness and carrying with him a body bag, which he lay open near the car. And at the car he was gentle, pulling Denise out and positioning her near the body bag, where he used a scalpel to peel the clothes from her body. He discarded the clothes into the garbage bag.
At the small of her back Denise had a tattoo he had not yet noticed.
When Denise was naked he returned the scalpel to the doctor’s bag, put the syringe and the bottle back into it and tossed the bag into the trunk of his car and closed it. He stood over the living body of Denise and admired her naked form. He was happy.
Carl bent down, humming. He was careful, sliding her into the body bag and—ZIP!
He walked into the house, where a landing and a staircase led down into a basement. He switched on a light. He turned away from the staircase and faced the wall, covered with wood paneling that he removed. It revealed a hidden entrance to the bomb shelter, where his operating room waited. There was nothing special about the entrance; a lever and a padlock. He unlocked it and put the padlock into a pocket.
From the top of the stairs Carl walked down, carrying the body of Denise. He nodded in Penny’s direction when he saw her in the playroom. She waited in a catatonic state, sitting in front of a large TV, itself streaming a little girl’s animated show. She stared forward, in a near paralyzed prison. Her expressionless face, healed from the night she was abducted, bore the scar from the lobectomy. It was prominent, but she was bodily healthy, though pale. Most notable, she was dressed as a child, a living doll.
He called out to her. “Penny? I’m back, Sweetie. Sorry it took so long.”
Carl sat the body bag with Denise inside atop the operating table. He turned and walked over to Penny. He swiveled her chair around so that she was able to see their new guest.
“I brought company.” He kissed Penny on the cheek in greeting. “Now, don’t be jealous,” he said. “If this all works out you and Denise will be the best of friends.”
Carl went back up the stairs. In the garage he strapped a respirator mask around his face and put on HAZMAT wear. He put all of Denise’s belongings into the garbage bag with her torn clothes and cleaned his car inside and out. He washed the interior with an industrial fabric cleaner, scrubbing very hard, and used a wet-vac. He sprayed everything down in the garage. Again he scrubbed, using an industrial cleaner.
At the center of the garage was a drain, where all the water ran.
Carl sanitized the car and the entire garage, inch by inch. When he was done he stood at the door leading into the house, holding the garbage bag with Denise’s clothes at his side. He looked over every detail, contemplating what he had done and if he may have missed anything.
Satisfied, he turned into the house and closed the door behind him. He walked down into the operating room dropped the garbage bag to the side of the stairs, where a large open BIO-HAZARD container sat. He walked around to stand in front of the open container and stripped off all safety attire and dropped it in.
He dressed in his scrubs, all the while looking over at the unmoving body bag.
Penny shook in her chair, staring at the body bag.
Carl said, “Penny? Daddy has to go to work. You just sit there and enjoy the show.”
He approached the body bag. He unzipped it and reached into it, running his hands over the warm body. He pulled the plastic back, exposing Denise.
He walked away toward the sink where he picked up the bucket, put it in the sink and ran water.
Denise, her face swollen from the abuse, tried to open her eyes. She tried to speak. She tried to move at all, but could not.
Carl returned with sponge in hand and a towel draped over his shoulder. He looked down at Denise, saw her eyes open. He looked down at his watch.
He said, “Right on time. Ya know, I love it when a girl keeps to a schedule. That’s very uncommon. You’re making an impression, Denise. Oh! I’m Carl, by the way.”
Denise was making a noise, but unable to speak.
“What’s that? Still can’t talk? Yeah, I probably gave you a little too much. Don’t worry. You’ll be able to beg for your life in just a few minutes.”
Carl sat the bucket next to Denise. He used the sponge to clean her broken face. He said, “I know it’s very alarming waking up to all this, thinking you’re about to die, but I can assure you it’s going to be painless. And maybe a little fun.”
Denise was crying under the work of Carl’s hand. He stopped and wiped a tear away.
“Yeah. Sorry ‘bout that, kid. Not that you’d believe me, but I didn’t plan this. Not tonight anyway. I was just out, looking for my daughter…” Carl ran a hand down her thigh and massaged her pubis. “…who you happen to look like.”
Denise’s face registered grief, not yet able to speak. She imagined what he intended for her.
Unable to control her own body, Penny watched. Her eyes welled up.
Carl removed his hand and pulled Denise’s limbs from the body bag. He said, “Let me dispel any concerns of death. I’m not going to kill you. I’m going to perform a surgical procedure to alter your behavior, rendering you docile. After that, you and Penny can be friends, and the two of you will share the load of meeting all my needs. It’ll be quick, it’ll be painless, and like I said before, it’ll be fun.”
Penny wept with fright, fought to move.
Carl heard her. He said, “Hush, Penny. That’s no way to talk about your new friend.”
Penny was anything but quiet.
Carl turned his attention back to Denise, and said, “Well, let’s get you out of this so I can get you cleaned up.” He pulled her up to him to pull the body bag away from under her. “Have to be careful not to scrape your perfect skin. You’ve taken such good care of your— !”
He stopped short when he saw her tattoo. It was a horrifying blemish; graffiti on a work of master craftsmanship. He sat her body down and bowed his head, remorseful and breathing heavy.
“What did you—”
Carl threw the body bag aside and flipped Denise over. He stared at the tattoo, tried to control the anger boiling within him.
Penny shook, moaned.
He screamed, “Goddammit!”
Carl flipped the body back over. He took her face in both of his hands. He demanded: “What the fuck did you do to yourself?!”
Denise cried. Finally, she could speak, though it was very weak. “Please don’t hurt me.”
It was too late.
“Oh, baby girl. You were fucking perfect. Your skin was so beautiful. Why did you ruin your body?”
Denise was scared and confused. She said, “I don’t know what you—”
Carl turned Denise on her side. He clawed at her tattoo to rip it off, making her cry out. Penny tried to scream in her silence.
“The tattoo, you fucking whore. Your pretty little tramp-stamp.”
“Please, stop!”
He did not hear her. “It’s ruined.”
“Oh, God. Please, don’t.”
Carl tossed Denise away from him, disgusted. He rushed to the work station and cleared everything with a furious swipe, sending debris everywhere.
Several feet away, Penny was weeping in unison with Denise. Carl bowed his head, unable to face her. He fell silent. He listened to the sobbing of both girls growing stronger.
Denise said, “Please, you don’t have to do this. You don’t have to hurt me.”
Carl was grieved and angry. He turned back to Denise and said, “Hurt you? Thing is, I wasn’t going to hurt you at all, Denise. Didn’t you hear the part where I said I was going to make it 100% hurt-free?”
“You could just let me go. No one has to know. Please. I won’t say a thing. I don’t even know where I am… I won’t say a thing.”
Carl brooded over her, breathing deep. His anger subsided. He said, “That’s a generous offer, Denise.”
He stared into Denise’s eyes.
She begged, “Please.”
“You’re traumatized, Denise. Law-enforcement teaches us that the testimonies of witnesses of traumatizing events can’t be trusted. Such witnesses often give unreliable accounts, changing small but significant details.”
Denise listened to Carl with hope on her face.
He went on. “A red shirt may be blue, blue eyes green, blonde hair brown, and so on. The victim, yourself, may not recall accurately where she was abducted, if it was day or night, warm weather or chilly. So, it’s a gamble, Denise.”
Carl walked back to the work station. He slid a drawer open and removed an item, then returned to Denise.
He said, “Doctors on the other hand, particularly neurologists, could argue that at the moment of trauma the brain acts like a camera, preserving the event like a proverbial photograph.”
Denise worried again. She cried. The cocktail was wearing off. Parts of her limbs were coming back to life.
“In a sense,” he said, “my face is being permanently sealed into the limbic system of your brain. Being as this is a rather strong trauma you are experiencing, you’ll remember me the rest of your life. And that’s a torture I wouldn’t wish on anyone.”
“Please, don’t do this.”
“Ya’ know, the Buddhists believe that at the moment of death you carry with you something they call ‘last thought moment’. Basically, that just means you carry whatever you’re thinking about with you when you die into the next life. With that in mind…”
Penny’s eyes widened. She saw what Carl was holding.
“…think happy thoughts.”
While Denise cried out, Carl lifted a fist above her naked frame, holding a medial spike. He forced it down into her skull
